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