In conclusion: We don’t have to know everything, sometimes what shapes our future is the journey of the unknown. It is not to say that we shouldn’t have any idea of what we want or where we want to go and take steps toward that, but we should be able to go with the flow. […]
Tapping into Ahimsa (the yama, or restraint, of non-violence) in a mantra-like fashion, this student found an almost surprising ability to be present. In this awareness was found the “hidden pockets and places” the ego likes to hide. This experience in an everyday setting revealed the path for further exploration into Yoga’s yamas and niyamas.
For a soft-spoken someone who rescues spiders (capturing them and putting them outside instead of squishing them), it was seemingly strange and somewhat confusing as to why I had chosen Ahimsa for my Yama-Niyama experiment. Once in our groups however, the intrinsic appropriateness of this choice became clear, like the color. Let me explain. Even […]
So many interesting discoveries were the result of this focus. The most significant and obvious would be the awareness that was cultivated around my unconscious patterns. Step one: catch the exact moment frustration or impatience made an appearance in the car with me. The very first day of the experiment I was waiting at a […]
In addition to all of this, perhaps my favorite discovery of the entire experiment came a few weeks into it. It had been going exceptionally well. I would take notice of when it was more challenging, such as the long drive home after work or if I didn’t give myself enough time to get somewhere, […]
Experiment conclusion: successful. Even though it doesn’t end here. I will continue practicing this Ahimsa in other aspects of my life. Also, my curiosity for exploring the other Yama’s and Niyama’s has been heightened due to watching aspects of them weave in and out of this one. As it stands, the first Yama has been […]
This Axis Yoga Teacher Training student shares a personal journey into the yama (restraint) of aparigraha. By weaving together knowledge of various spiritual and daily life practices, the experience continues to ripen and offer the possibility of healing and personal enrichment.
A Rabbi was worried about having enough food to help the poor during an extremely desperate time, with many families needing help. He made visits to many different people who lived in their village, asking people to donate money to help others. The Rabbi decided to visit the most stingy, miserly member of their village. […]
Just like the Rabbi acted towards this stingy man, Aparigraha takes patience, persistence, presence and lovingkindness to alter the habits of grasping, hoarding, and holding onto beliefs that no longer serve me. This Yama is an ethical precept of Patanjali’s Ashtanga Yoga. This restraint represents nongrasping, non-hoarding, reducing the amount of input or stimulation, and […]
Richard Freeman, The Mirror of Yoga, states that Aparigraha is a tendency of the mind to be under the sway of the ego, to simply snatch at things and claim them to be it’s own. “This I identify with and that I do not.” So why do I cling to fear as my first emotional […]