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.
leah said,
August 17, 2008 @ 8:50 am
these are beautiful!! what a fabulous way to keep these ideas fresh in your mind.
Jamie said,
August 17, 2008 @ 11:49 am
What beautiful creations.
I think I will focus on Satya this week. These guidelines aer new to me. Thank you for the inspiration.