The Fifth Yama: Aparigraha or Non-attachment

September is coming to a close, and so we wrap up our Yoga Month exploration of the Yamas in my Monday Morning Meditation class with the fifth yama, Aparigraha (a-par-ee-gra-ha), which means non-accumulation and non-attachment. Aparigraha is often described as freedom from materialism, greed, and possessiveness, as well as freedom from fixation on and attachment to particular outcomes.

When we flip this to an affirmative way of thinking, we talk about acceptance, generosity, openness, and equanimity. A key practice in support of this yama is the cultivation of 

In our Monday Morning Meditation class on September 20th, we'll be invited to reflect on this practice in our own lives. Class is 7:30 to 8:00am ET, online, and free.

I ask you to keep our beloved studio, owners Jennifer and Gary French, and all our teachers and students in your hearts and send them loving thoughts in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. The first floor studio had damage from storm surge flooding, but repairs will be underway quickly. All classes will continue online, so make sure to sign up for the online class link. 

Link for class registration: The Yoga Sanctuary

The Fourth Yama: Bramacharya or Moderation

                                         

Welcome to week four of Yoga Month!

This week, our topic is the fourth Yama, Bramacharya (Brah-mah-char-ya). 

If you google this word, you will find a lot of talk about celibacy and restraint of all sensory pleasures. But while refraining from engaging in sensory delights may have been a necessary restraint for the monks, who were yoga's first practitioners, it's not realistic, or even desirable, for the majority of the human race.(Think how quickly the human race would become extinct!) 

So let's start with breaking down the translation of this Sanskrit word and then explore what it can mean for ordinary people trying to live their lives in connection with society.

Literal Translation:

• Brahma = Infinite
• Charya = To walk or to live

So, the literal translation of Bramacharya is Walking into the Infinite.

But that's still not very clear with regard to how to implement this concept in daily life, is it? Let's keep going and see if we can help it make sense.

I like this statement about Bramacharya from Sejal Shah, because I think it explains the essence of the idea nicely:

Bramacharya is detaching from the small things in life in order to connect to the infinite.

SO, The practice of Bramacharya in any ordinary life really means to practice moderation in all things, in order to live a more peaceful, meaningful life.

It means moving beyond the small attachments of life - which can actually become very large attachments and even obsessions and addictions - and toward a deeper connection with the greater divine - or infinity.

Our attachments to sensory pleasures, be they food, drink, sex, drugs, material possessions, wealth, stuff, or habits, are all the small attachments. The pleasure we get from them is fleeting, and we can get caught up in a cycle of needing more and more of something in order to reach the temporary high we crave. 

Our cravings and obsessions originate from a sense of lack - we are trying to fill up something inside us that feels, often subconsciously, empty. Perhaps we feel unloved - by others, but perhaps more importantly, by ourselves. Bramacharya, practiced in conjunction with the other yamas, is  part of the path to self-love and less suffering.

It's important to understand that we are not being asked to forgo the delights of living! Food, drink, loving beautiful things. enjoying physical pleasures, working hard, playing, goofing off, getting exercise, or building wealth for our financial security, are not bad things to be banished! We are not being asked to live in a cave, eat gruel, and toil the land. We are simply being asked not to become so attached to worldly delights that they become the point. 

And remember, moderation implies a kind of coming to the middle. So it's possible to go overboard in the other direction! Perhaps you need to sing, dance, eat, play, and rest MORE!

As Oscar Wilde told us:

As with all the yamas, we can test our behavior back to our primary practice of Ahimsa or non-harming. If our behavior is causing harm, to ourselves or others, then we need to explore the roots of it and work toward making adjustments. It's simply that - to see our habits, assess their meaning in our lives, and make changes as needed. 

We'll meditate on this yama in our Monday Morning Meditation class on September 23rd. Class is online-only, free, and runs from 7:30 to 8:00am ET.

Register via the link: The Yoga Sanctuary

The Third Yama: Asteya or Non-Stealing

Throughout September, The Yoga Sanctuary is embracing the theme of Traveling the World of Yoga.

In our Monday Morning Meditation class, we are honoring that theme by exploring the Yamas, which are the yogic principles that guide our behaviors. This week, we will explore the third Yama, Asteya.

Asteya means non-stealing. So once again, there's a similarity to the Ten Commandments, where we are told, Thou Shalt Not Steal.

But just as with the first two yamas, non-harming (ahimsa) and honesty/truthfulness (satya), in yoga philosophy, we are asked to look beyond the obvious wisdom of not stealing other people's stuff, and to consider the many less obvious ways that we can "steal" from ourselves and others.

When viewed from this expanded perspective, the realm of what behavior constitutes stealing can be very eye-opening!

                                            

How might we steal from ourselves? Here are just a few ideas:

• When we worry excessively about the future or dwell too much on the past, we steal our own joy in the present
• Engaging in belittling or limiting thoughts about ourselves prevents us from actualizing our full potential
• Fixating on specific outcomes robs us of exploring possibilities that might be better!
• Being envious of others steals our happiness and harms our relationships

       

What are some of the ways we steal from others that are less obvious than the act of physically taking their stuff? Again, just a few possibilities:

• A pattern of always being late steals other people's valuable time
• Hogging the conversation or constantly interrupting steals the other's person's voice, steals from the pleasure of engaging with you, and robs you of hearing other perspectives and ideas
• Taking credit for someone else's idea or work is...stealing from them

                   

As always, we tie behaviors back to the first and foremost yama, Ahimsa, which enables us to recognize that these more subtle forms of theft are harmful to our relationships and to ourselves. This exploration can feel a little harsh, because applying the asteya principle to behaviors that we often excuse as being personal quirks that we think of as just the way we are, or harmless, reveals them to actually be far more harmful than we thought! 

Behaviors are not just the way we are, they are the way we choose to behave.

But remember, the point of this exploration is not to berate ourselves and add to our misery! The intention is to SEE our our thoughts, words, and actions, in a new light. 

  

Once seen, we have the ability to change our long-standing and often unrealized or acknowledged behavioral patterns, and in doing so, bring less suffering to ourselves and to others.

The Yamas certainly give us a lot to think about! We'll be invited to reflect on this in our Monday Morning Meditation class on September 15th. Class is online-only and free, from 7:30 to 8:00am.

Class link: The Yoga Sanctuary Schedule