Niyamas

Saucha means purity or cleanliness on both a physical and mental level. Yoga is a system of purification for both the mind and the body. Pure thoughts produce pure actions. Being bodily clean helps keep us healthy and free from disease. Saucha can be purity in the company we keep. It can also be extended to include purity in anything we take in through the sense doors - pure images, sounds, smells, tastes.

Santosha conveys a sense of contentment, serenity, happiness. We owe it to ourselves to be happy. When we are happy people around us are happier. We strive to be content with what life offers us, to be equanimous in face of the trials and tribulations that life sends us, to remain unaffected by the external influences.

Tapas is the practice of austerity. Living an austere existence enables us to be able to face hardship when it comes to us or equally to appreciate good things when they come along. There are many different practices, such as fasting once a week, or sleeping on the floor from time to time, sitting on the floor or voluntarily enduring some kind of hardship that may not be necessary. This helps us to train the mind and bring it under control. However, tapas must not be interpreted as punishment and should not be practiced with any sort of negative thoughts about oneself or one's practice.Being disciplined to practice asana and pranayama is one form of tapas.

Swadhyaya literally means 'self-study' and entails the study of scriptures - traditionally the Vedas and the Puranas which represent an incredible storehouse of knowledge of the human condition and our true potential as human beings. Practically, swadhyaya can mean studying any uplifting books or texts. The advent of the printing press and internet means that we have a greater possibility of finding suitable reading material than ever before in the history of humanity.Through studying these texts we learn that we are not alone on the path and any questions we can ask pertaining to our existence have been asked since the existence of mankind and often answered with great lucidity and inspiration by many writers, both ancient and modern.

Ishwara-pranidhana is surrendering oneself to the divine will, having faith that we are all part of a greater picture and that the interconnectedness of everything shows that there is a higher reality. Some people will put labels on this, calling it God or Gaia or Tao or Universal Conciousness or any number of things, but by trying to express an infinite concept with mere words we automatically limit our experience. Not everything can, nor should, be explained in rational terms. Ishwara-pranidhana is about accepting that we are part of something much greater than we can ever understand and surrendering to that.