Ishvara Pranidhana

Devotion to God, or a Power greater than oneself. This is the crowning glory of the Niyamas. After all, this is a spiritual path, so it is only right that at some point the mention of God, or a Higher Power, enters the discussion. For many people, this is not a problem. For others, this is where they shout, "Stop the train, I want to get off!" It is important to remember that the paternal God of the Judeo-Christian traditions is totally foreign to the Hindu practitioner. God is not a person, but a power, a form of energy that pervades everything in the world and the universe. Hinduism has many gods and goddesses, all of whom possess different human attributes and yet are only a small part of the Divine Energy. Hindu practitioners choose their own god or goddess, depending upon which human attributes they wish to cultivate. That is a system which is in line with Yoga, one of the six schools of orthodox Hinduism. On the yogic path, we are choosing what to pay attention to and what to work on: greedlessness, non-violence, truth, etc. You can practice yoga and be a devout Catholic at the same time. You can be a Hindu who chooses Jesus as your personal god. This is not sacrilegious but rather a mindful choice of spiritual practice based on paying attention: our personal needs are different from our neighbors, and only we ourselves can determine them with any accuracy. We can seek help and guidance from our spiritual leaders and mentors, but in the end it is we as individuals who are responsible for choosing our spiritual path.
If you are an atheist, how do you practice Ishvara Pranidhana? Keep in mind that in this ancient tradition, there is no GOD but rather Divine Energy. Rather than a father figure who watches over us and keeps score, deciding who lives and who dies in any given year, divine energy is what the world was created from: it is a power greater than ourselves. I think we can all agree that the universe and all its mysteries is definitely a power greater than ourselves! The ultimate goal of a yoga practice is to experience first-hand this divine energy in ourselves and our interconnectedness through divine energy to every other form, animate and inanimate, on earth. If you have dabbled in quantum physics, you will begin to understand that it is the modern-day physicists who are the closest to understanding this concept. This Divine Energy can be proven scientifically. You don't need a messiah or a miracle to prove it, just a really good physicist who can explain some tricky concepts to you. Good luck! : )

Svadhyaya

Self-study, self- analysis; also, studying sacred scripture. These are two different definitions for Svadhyaya. Initially, you might think, Huh? which is it - self analysis or study of sacred scripture? But further examination shows that these two definitions are meant to be together. Just recently I read the best explanation for this, and unfortunately I cannot remember who wrote it, but I do remember the explanation quite clearly as it made a whole lot of sense to me. We need to work on studying ourselves first, and for a long time, before we begin to study sacred scripture. This is because we need a good acquaintance with our inner-most selves, our strengths and our weaknesses, an acknowledgment of ego and knowing the difference between ego and true self, before we dive into scripture. Only then can we really choose the sacred scripture that is right for us as individuals. It is considered a waste of time to study lots of different sacred scriptures, dabbling a little with this or that religion or philosophy, if we have not yet done the work of getting to know ourselves. We get side-tracked, pulled this way and that way, and only really end up more confused than enlightened, if we spread ourselves too thin. So the concept of Svadhyaya is to study every aspect of ourselves (the Yamas help us get started!), practicing Satya (Truth) in everything we do, think, and say. Then, after many years of such practice, we will know intuitively which sacred scriptures will be most enlightening for us.

Tapas

Self-Discipline. This can be defined many ways and the beautiful thing about the yogic path is that we get to define things for ourselves, according to our needs and where we are at any particular point in our lives. For instance, the self-discipline that I need to work on may be quite different from whatever it is that you need to work on. Tapas can be anything from getting out of bed a little earlier each morning, to giving up smoking, to sitting for longer in meditation. Asana, or the postures work we do on the mat in a typical yoga class, is a form of tapas. We are disciplining the body by correcting muscle imbalance and cleansing internal organs, eliminating toxins from our tissues as we sweat. You can choose one form of tapas or many. For me, asana is no problem, I do it every day. Getting enough exercise and eating healthy food is easy for me as well. For others, not so. For you, getting to the gym three times per week may be your tapas right now. For me, reducing my chocolate consumption is going to take a lot of hard work and determination. For instance, I walked into the grocery store just yesterday, and lo and behold, there was a lady standing just inside the door to greet all customers with a lovely display of Green & Blacks' Organic Chocolate in all different percentages and varieties. Now, not too long ago, I was able to to say to myself: "Well, would you look at that! God really does want me to eat more chocolate! After all, Theobroma (as in theobroma cacao) does mean food of the gods, so who would really ever want to deprive themselves of such a heavenly food!?" With a little creative imagination and a great deal of delusion we are often quite capable of talking ourselves right back into the habits we want to give up or cut back. This is where Satya comes back in. Being Truthful. Without it, our attempts at tapas are bound to fail. I did walk away from the chocolate lady, but in all honesty I still had the bar of Equal Exchange chocolate that I had bought the day before. So, tiny steps. Tiny steps are always okay, as long as they are heading in the direction we wish to travel.

Santosha

Contentment. Practicing contentment can be more difficult than it would seem. We live in a fast-paced, success-oriented, consumerist society which seems to be sending the same message over and over again: you are not yet complete without the latest (fill in the blank). At what point, then, are we complete? When we've maxed out our last credit card?? I think a great many people have already tried that and guess what? It doesn't work! Practicing santosha means practicing regular reflection on what we have, not what we don't have. We do tend to do this from time to time: saying grace before dinner, saying blessings for our family, etc. But most of the time we get caught up in the rat race of status and consumption. Santosha is more than saying grace. It is remembering all day long what we are grateful for. Not obsessing about the car we want to have but rather reminding ourselves of how lucky we are to have a car that gets us where we want to go. Santosha means celebrating the healthy body you have rather than despising our legs that don't look good in skinny jeans. Get the gist? It is simply a matter of turning around the negative thoughts: they are only one side of the coin. Focus on the other side instead. It saves a lot of energy and helps you develop a far more satisfying life.
A radical example of practicing santosha is that of a friend of mine in the yoga community whose house burned down a few years ago. She lost all of her possessions. This is everyone's nightmare. But what she walked away with was her life and her daughter's life. Neither was injured. Within one week she began to experience a feeling of great freedom and contentment. She no longer had all the clutter of everyday life, just the things that mattered, her daughter and herself. This is not such an unusual story. Many people have reported that same sense of freedom once they finally lost all their "stuff". We tend to cling to our belongings and fear losing them as we've identified with them as an integral part of ourselves. But once they are gone, we realize we are so much more than the sum of our belongings! Aparigraha, or non-hoarding, is practiced for this very reason.
Every day we need to re-evaluate our contentment. Sometimes we are not healthy or we do not have a car. And sometimes we need to just kvetch and get it out of our system. But Satya, or truth, is a major component here. If we are truthful with ourselves about what is, we are more likely to cultivate contentment than if we simply sulk about what is not and long for something that no longer is or was never meant to be.

Shaucha

Cleanliness; purity of mind and body. Sanskrit is a fascinating ancient language in that one little word rarely has one little definition. Shaucha refers not only to keeping our body clean from the outside, but also from the inside. It also refers to a "cleanliness" or purity of mental energy as well as spiritual energy. From the simplest perspective, taking a bath, brushing our teeth, avoiding junk food, staying away from internet porn and going to church regularly would seem to cover the basics. But as we dive a bit deeper into ancient tradition, we discover an amazing array of cleansing techniques, from fasting to special diets, to purging and the use of enemas, to breathing exercises, chanting mantras and beginning meditation techniques. So Shaucha can encompass a wide array of cleansing possibilites! For most of us, unless you are into colonics, the idea of fasting, purging, or using enemas is hardly enticing. So back to basics: keep your body clean, every day. Floss and brush. Empty your bowels. Then take a good, honest look (Satya!) at your diet. How does it effect your energy? Your digestion? What can be eliminated or added to improve your nutrition? Is our diet generally life-enhancing, or is it harmful to our health (Ahimsa!) Are we not feeding ourselves enough (Asteya!) out of concern for body image, or are we gorging mindlessly (Aparigraha!). These are all considerations we must make when attending to our inner cleanliness, or purity. You can now see how the concepts of Non-Violence, Truth, Non-Stealing and Non-Hoarding come into play as we begin to consider our overall sense of inner and outer purity. Yama and Niyama are inherently connected. Do not let that confuse or discourage you. You don't even need to notice it initially. But as you practice, you will begin to see the interconnectedness clearly. I think of each limb along this path as not only preparing us for the next limb, but reinforcing the last one.
The same considerations apply to purity of mind and spirit as well: what are we reading, watching on TV, listening to on our ipods? How is our mental energy affected when we go to work listening to heavy metal or to a Mozart concerto. What kind of people are we hanging around these days? Are they negative, angry, stuck-in-the-mud people, or are they contented, productive people? How does the company you keep effect your state of mind? Your state of mind will have either a positive or negative affect on your spiritual path: if your mental energy is negative, you won't be advancing spiritually anytime soon, I guarantee it! That doesn't mean we should plaster on a smiley face and pretend all is well, it simply means pay attention! Only with attention can we make the changes we need to improve our lot.

Niyama - Personal Observances

The second limb of the eight-limbed path is Niyama, or personal observances. Like Yama, there are five subsets of Niyama:
1. Shaucha: cleanliness; purity of mind and body
2. Santosha: contentment
3. Tapas: vigorous self-discipline
4. Svadhyaya: self-analysis; study of spiritual scriptures
5. Ishvara Pranidhana: Devotion to God, or to a Power greater than oneself

While Yama is focusing our attention on how we conduct ourselves in the outside world and working to develop a bit more discipline morally, Niyama is how we take care of our inner-selves and continuing to develop our self-discipline with regard to our physical, mental and spiritual health. Yama and Niyama are rarely ever separated, and it is difficult to focus on only the first limb without making detours through the second limb. This will become apparent with all the limbs, as the eight-limbed path is rarely linear. As I take you through each subset of Niyama, I will attempt to make a connection to some aspect of Yama so that you can see how interwoven these principals are.

Aparigraha

Non-Greed, or Non-hoarding. This fifth Yama violates the basic tenets of the American National Religion: Capitalism. That does not mean you need to become a dreaded Socialist or, God-Forbid, Communist, but this Yama does force us to take a good, hard look at our consumption habits. Tread easy with this one - it can be painful. Let's face it, Ladies: just how many pairs of shoes do we really need? I'm sure you can see where I am going with this. Practicing aparigraha requires a good foundation in satya (truth) or we won't be making any progress. How much do we eat, sleep, shop or otherwise indulge in both material and sensual pleasures? This is the question we want to keep at the back of our minds and explore over a period of time. The more awareness we bring to our consumption habits the better able we are to make some better decisions, perhaps spend a little less, or at least only indulge in the best quality we can afford (see Chocolate of the Week box to your right). We should aim to make our lives less cluttered, not more so. It is easier said than done, and this topic will come up again when we take a good look at Pratyahara. In the meantime, think about the dread you feel when your parents or in-laws try to unload thirty years worth of junk from their attic into the back of your car. If you have not reached that point in your life yet, believe me you will soon enough and you might want to get your parents started on aparigraha right away! My husband is a master of aparigraha and I have a long way to go to catch up. For some of us, this yama may be easy and for others, it may take many years of patient practice to learn to take a little less and give a lot more. Good luck!