Yamas and Niyamas

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon at the Creative Action Center with my friend and fellow Lady Launcher Laura Parker.  Given the busy week I had, it was really nice to just hang out, create and connect.

Last month when I took Kimberly Wilson’s Yoga and Creativity workshop, Kimberly highlighted the yamas and niyamas.  We studied them during my yoga teacher training, but I appreciated the refresher since I have such a hard time remembering the Sanskrit words.  So, I created two pieces to stay connected to these spiritual guidelines.

Yamas are ethical observations or how we interact with our outer world.  The five yamas include:

  • Ahimsa – nonviolence
  • Satya – truthfulness
  • Asteya – non-stealing
  • Brahmacharya – moderation
  • Aparigraha – greedlessness

Niyamas are self observations or how we interact with ourselves in our inner world.  The five niyamas are:

  • Shaucha – cleanliness
  • Samtosha – contentment
  • Tapas – fiery discipline
  • Swadhyaya – self-study
  • Ishwara-Pranidhana – devotion to the universal

This week I’ll be focusing on Samtosha (being grateful for what I have) and Tapas (to keep me on track with my goals).  I invite you to pick one or two of these teachings to play with this week, too.  Namaste.

2 thoughts on “Yamas and Niyamas”

  1. What beautiful creations.

    I think I will focus on Satya this week. These guidelines aer new to me. Thank you for the inspiration.

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