The Yamas: Or how to not be a dick

The first limb of yoga is the Yamas. The Yamas are external practices that help us lead a more liberated life.

Wat 😮

Ok so in plain English, the Yamas are five guidelines for how to interact with the world. Basically, how not to be a dick. Ya dig?

🪷 Ahimsa or Non-violence
🪷 Satya or Truthfulness
🪷 Asteya or Nonstealing
🪷 Brahmacharya or Right Use of Energy
🪷 Aparigraha or non-greed

If you’ve had any exposure to Judeo-Christian religions, you might notice some familiar concepts here. (And keep your eyes peeled for some more similarities when we discuss the Niyamas 😉) Something that is different from the Judeo-Christian religious experience is the complete absence of dogma here.

There are no hard and fast rules like “don’t eat meat on Fridays during a random 40 day period in the springtime.” Just suggestions to lead your choices into kinder, more compassionate action.

When you look at these guidelines, don’t be confused by the prefix non- in some of them. That prefix does NOT mean that these are passive behaviors. Another important note is that the Yamas are all interconnected. Each Yama’s practical application is informed by the rest of the Yamas.

The Yamas are best thought of as behavioral patterns to integrate into our daily lives. Think of how different the world would be if we learned each of these from a young age…

🪷 Ahimsa

The first of the five Yamas is ahimsa (or nonviolence). Ahimsa is not just the absence of violent action, but rather the practice of choosing to take non-violent action every day. Ahimsa is actively working to take down violent systems of oppression.

This can loo like: decolonizing work, anti-racism work, protesting the funding of genocidal states, etc. All those Gen Z college students protesting this spring? They were embodying the first limb of yoga. Ahimsa is not merely walking away from the opportunity to fight; ahimsa is protecting those who can’t protect themselves.

Wow. That’s a big ask from such a little word, huh? Not to worry: the magic happens when you start small. Let’s look at some practical applications of ahimsa in modern life.

A lot of times when we think of violence, we think of blood and guts and physical violence. We’ve already touched on violent systems of oppression. But what about other, sneakier forms of violence?

Judgement is a form of violence. When judge others, or ourselves, we are engaging in small acts of violence that have the potential to escalate. Negative comments on social media posts, harmful self talk, unnecessary criticism of others: these are all small acts of violence.

When we live our yoga, we actively work against violence: big violence, and small violence.

🪷 Satya

Next up: Satya, or truthfulness in English. The kind of truthfulness indicated by the word Satya is more than just not lying, though. It’s also a kind of honesty that is more complicated than just telling the truth.

Remember: Each of the Yamas is informed by the others.

So when we look at Satya through the lens of Ahimsa, we start to see a more complex picture of truthfulness. What, then, is a non-violent truth?

Say your friend sends you a picture of their new haircut and asks you what you think of it. If you’re honest with yourself, you don’t think it looks very good. Should you tell the truth here, knowing that it might cause an act of small violence? Or should you compliment the confidence they now display since the fateful trim?

Other examples of Satya in our lives abound. Every human being on the planet has an ego. We’re talking the ego as in the self with a lowercase “s.” Our ego likes to protect us by keeping us in the predictable routine. Trying new things is scary to the ego, and the ego is not above lying to us to keep us safe.

Satya is a kind of truthfulness that asks us to think about not only what we say and how we say it, but also to consider how what you say will affect others.

🪷 Asteya

We’re moving on to Asteya, or non-stealing. By now, I’m sure you know where we are going with this one. But remember: non- does not just mean the lack of stealing here. It means actively working to give of yourself and to actively work against stealing and stealing behaviors.

We steal time from ourselves and others when we overbook ourselves, when we don’t allow time to process and recover from events, and when we tell someone we’ll do something but then we don’t. We steal others’ autonomy when we worry unnecessarily about them and don’t trust that they can take care of themselves. We steal from our joy and the joy of others when we place unrealistic expectations on situations.

The practice of asteya is unlearning these little acts of theft in daily life. And, of course, when we practice asteya that is also INFORMED by ahimsa and Satya, we truly begin to see the yoga in our lives.

🪷 Brahmacharya

Brahmacharya is the next Yama. This one is basically right use of energy.

In the words of T. K. V. Desickachar, this Yama suggests that we form relationships that “foster our understanding of the highest truths. If sensual pleasures are part of those relationships, we must take care that we keep our direction and do not get lost.”

Some people like to equate this one to chastity. 🙄 I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: there’s no dogma in yoga. So I just throw this out. Because to me this is more about putting your energy where it’s deserved, and where it’s needed.

This can sometimes include loving people from a distance. Sometimes, we pour so much of ourselves, our love, and our effort into relationships (platonic, romantic, and familial) and the other party involved is not reciprocating.

This isn’t to say that relationships are purely transitional, but to realize where your energy is cherished and welcomed and where it is not, can help inform your decisions on where to place your attention and energy. In short, we should be responsible with our use of our own energy and always move it toward the truth.

🪷 Aparigraha

The last Yama is aparigraha. This roughly translates to non-greed or non-hoarding. Parigraha means to take or to seize. Aparigraha is about only taking what you need and no more. It also teaches us to let go of material attachments, and to not take advantage of situations.

In today’s world filled with influencer culture and fast fashion, overconsumption has become somewhat of a disease. Practicing intentional aparigraha can allow us to zoom out, and recognize that we are complete without all of the “stuff.”

Now, I’m not suggesting that you throw your smartphone away and run off to the woods. I’m just inviting you to ask yourself before making a purchase, “Is this something that I truly need?”

Another great way to practice aparigraha in everyday life is by donating unused clothes and goods or possibly exchanging them in your local “no buy” Facebook groups.

Living the Yamas Daily

Now that we’ve covered all five of the Yamas, I'm sure you can see how by merely practicing these new behavior patterns, so much of our daily struggles with the outside world would be reduced.

I invite you to really explore how each of these behavior patterns shows up already in your life, and how you can continue to expand your practice of truly living the Yamas.