More Yoga Yamas (Ethical Behaviours) from students.

Asteya
I found this Yama to be particularly helpful. Many times in life I try to take the easy way out because it’s easier and faster, but by practicing this Yama which is in essence -honesty, I have found many of the stresses that come with cheating disappear if you are honest -especially to yourself. Yoga has opened me up to living a better life. I am working on being a more generous and honest person and not taking the easy way out. Asteya states if you can do that, you will have a better life
R.

I will express my experience with the Greed and how I managed to step out. Yoga helped me greatly with the unity principle , also being part of the flower shuttle added to it.

To me it is like stepping from the frying pan to a paradise island in Bali or Hawaii with a beautiful ocean breeze and tropical flowers full of colors and pleasant scents. As a human being being greedy is falling in a restricted territory- a land that has no limit- the more one grabs the more one wants without satisfaction. It is an infinity with no limits and no end. IF one asks where is peace, love, beauty, goodness in the greed cycle – the answer is there are none in this territory. There is only hot fire that consumes ones inner beauty .

By the grace of God and also by an individual effort we can discipline ourselves to get out the cycle of greed to paradise island of love, beauty, harmony, peace and unconditional love. God gives us will power and it is a matter of choice as to which road we desire to travel- either to the wide road that everyone is traveling or the unique and narrow one that only few lucky ones has discovered and managed to go through.

What I am seeking is not an external happiness but an inner personal satisfaction paved not with gold or silver but with art, beauty, love, peace and harmony. I hope that this will be my legacy to leave behind to the younger generation that knows no limit to greed.

I hope to hear your feedback , Judith. I enjoyed your class greatly yesterday . I pray for God to keep blessing you with more health and goodness and Yogic skills to spread it to the rest of your students. I hope to hear from you soon.

M.

I wanted to share with you a way that I practice Ahimsa, something that I’ve been doing for nearly 16 years, before I even knew the term Ahimsa.

I was bullied in middle school on a weekly basis. It wasn’t every day but it sure felt like it. I was called ugly names, pushed into lockers and walls, pushed down stairs, tripped to be made to fall in front of people and other hurtful things. I know I still carry some of that around with me and I’m sure I’ll never forget a lot of it.

As long as I can remember, I’ve always tried to live by what my mother taught me as a child: “Treat others the way you want to be treated”. I treat people with kindness and an open heart as much as I possibly can. I try to smile at people often and put out positive energy, even when its hard to.
During those 3 years, it was very often hard to live by those words but I did it, reminding myself that it would get better one day. And it certainly did.

Ahimsa helps me find inner peace and have a clear heart, mind and allows me to focus on the important things in life.
J.G.