8 Limb part 2

Today I bring my interpretation to the second of the 8 limbs path of yoga, which is Niyama or Observances.

Also I just want to state this is to help anyone who reads to relate to me and also see what I’ve gone through and go through to show up as a better healthier version of myself. I love myself but I also have caused a lot of harm in my life and I want to be more on the side of healing than hurting. I want to die happy with my actions, not regretful. So here I am, doing the work. Enjoy.

They are:

Saucha (Purity). Pure heart, pure mind, pure body. Limit toxins, clean your body, do mental and physical cleanses. It feels good. Sit in a steam room or sauna for a while, drink a bunch of water. It’ll help. There are also many other purity practices to help.

Samtosha (Contentment). Bob Marley says “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”. It’s that easy isn’t it. Not for me. But the less I can let go of needing more to be happy, the happier I tend to be. Im working on this one. Being an addict this is completely counter to the habits I’ve instilled. Listen to the song, read some books, but why? to be better and be happier? Why aren’t I just content now? Hmmmmm. Samtosha is hard for me. So I try and practice it, but I also practice the others more for now and trust that I’ll come back around to this one.

Tapas (Self Discipline). If you read Navy SEAL books, they are filled with ideology around tapas. Get up early, make your bed, work out, put fuel into your body, get shit done, support your team, do more etc. etc. SEAL books were some of my very favorite when I got into reading during late highschool. Self help books like the 5am club and or The One Thing are also filled with this idea of being disciplined. It is true. The more discipline you have over/in your life the better situation you tend to put yourself in. The more you get done/ the better you feel. Olympic athletes talk about practicing when you don’t want to practice. This is what discipline is. To be the best you gotta do the shit you know you gotta do even when you don’t want to do it. HAVE DISCIPLINE TO HAVE FREEDOM.

Swadhyaya (Study and Mantra). When I was finishing up college in my last semester, building a van and planning my next move, I made a decision that I would start/continue my personal studies. I Made a promise to myself to read books regularly. Swadhyaya is more about sacred texts and sanskrit, in the yoga sutras at least, but why not information that will help me to create a sacred space within. I didn’t know I was practicing Swadhyaya but by choosing to not let “school/studying” stop I was inherently creating healthy-positive-growth oriented practices for myself.

At Yoga Teacher Training in Peru I dove into mantra and felt for the first time, the immense power of the practice. The stilling and calming of my mind was blissful and left me wanting to harness the state again and again. It was better than any of the drugs( Alcohol, weed, tobacco) that i used to self medicate and numb myself for many many years. Mantra was also extremely different than self affirmations which I invested time into along my journey. They just weren’t the same. I am a big believer in Swadhyaya being a great healer and help along this journey we call life.

Ishvarapranidhanam (Absorption in the inner Self). What is Self versus self. I’ve learned the difference as the ego(self) versus universal connected consciousness or loving awareness(Self). Become one with the universe. Become loving awareness. Know yourself. Study yourself to find out what takes you away from this inner Self. Loving awareness is a whole lot better of a spot than selfish egoic asshole(speaking from personal experience).

All of the 8 limbs are: Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana, Samadhi. Again the first 4 are external and the first 4 are internal

Thanks for taking the time to read. I am trying to do most of this series from memory and give information without overloading, or making it be solely about me. I want it to be digestible, relatable, and processable. Also Im not trying to spend too long on any one post. If it feels important to answer questions or come back to a certain area down the line I will certainly do so.

Thank you

I love you

Your life matters

LOVE