A Practical View of Yama pt3 — Asteya

After writing in my last blog that truth could only be totally practiced in silence I had a bit of a crisis of conscience. It seems that these days with so many people around the world teaching and practicing yoga that there is a tsunami of writing and talking and...

A Practical View of Yama pt2 — Satya

Satya is Truthfulness. In the “Yoga Mala” Guruji writes, “One should always tell the truth in thought, word, and deed.” I also remember him in “conference” in Mysore, asking someone who claimed to have experienced “kundalini rising,” if they practiced Satya. He...

A Practical View of Yama – Pt 1 Ahimsa

The first limb of Ashtanga Yoga is Yama. This consists of 5 parts; ahimsa; satya; asteya; brahmacharya; and aparigraha. The first of these is ahimsa or nonviolence. As Guruji says in his “Yoga Mala” this means “not causing injury to anyone, including animals, in any...

The Guru Connection

With the proliferation of different styles of yoga these days I wonder if an essential aspect is being down played. This is the concept of “paramparā” or a succession of teachers in a traditional lineage. Intrinsic to this concept is the one of “Guru” (teacher) and...