The teachers at HeartWork Yoga Studio are meeting monthly right now to discuss applying the Yamas and Niyamas into our everyday life. Our teacher training group is doing this also. The first Yama (restraints) is Ahimsa, non-violence. To begin living our yoga we are to try to be non-violent in our life. At first this seems so simple, it sounds like being non-violent means to not fight with others. But actually to be non-violent in your life is hard! Isn’t thinking bad thoughts about yourself violent to you? Isn’t it violent to roll your eyes at the comment your mate just made? Is it violent to eat meat from chickens that never had a pleasant day in their lives while they lived in tiny cages where they couldn’t run around and be chickens?
As a group we discussed all the ways violence shows up in our lives. This month we are trying to pay attention when these things show up in our life. Can we be more patient with those people in our life that challenge us? Can you eat less meat in order to afford one great free range chicken from your local farmer? Can you re-phrase the little voice in your head when it says something that is not kind to you?
Try it. Try to be kind to you, and be kind to others. Try to live in a non-violent manner. That does not mean to be passive. It means to think about what you are doing and how you are going about living. We are reading the fantastic book The Yamas and Niyamas by Deb Adele. It is a fantastic book. Read it if you have not. HeartWork Yoga Studio carries the book in our yoga shop.
Namaste friends,
Amy
