How to practice Ahimsa yoga

If you look beyond the physical aspect of yoga, you will get an insight into the rich and incredibly wide world of yoga philosophy. The philosophical aspect of this centuries -old practice had a profound influence on me when I started studying yoga, with stories about gods and goddesses, symbolism for life and death, battlefields in the spirit and exploration of the importance of consciousness. While for some the yoga philosophy module for teacher training is the one from which you may be leaving (I know that many teachers have recently told me that you would like to repeat your philosophy at the weekend after your understanding of yoga has developed over the years) For others this is the turning point where yoga is so much more than just a number of postures.

One of the areas of yoga philosophy that you will most likely encounter when you do research or take part in a training course is the term ahimsa. The word itself means "not harmful" or "non -violent" in thought, words and actions. Gandhi was known for his devotion to ahimsa, and a large part of the Hindu and yogic tradition builds on the basics of non -injury. ahimsa is the first of the "Yamas" or "moral followers" within the eight members of yoga-a number of almost educational steps that can help a yoga practitioner samadhi or "bliss". While everything knows very well about the words, translations and meanings of the philosophical tenants, the real difference comes when we start to put these practices into practice. The Yoga Sutras say the ahimsa should form the basis on which all other philosophical practices (such as "truthfulness", "non-stealing", "correct energy consumption" and "non-greed") are built. To put it on the test, let us see what happens when we take our yoga off the mat and practice with everyday life ahimsa. Try the following five tips and see what difference it makes for your week!

ahimsa in her yoga practice:

Many of us were there; We approach a challenging yoga posture, which is about a centimeter lower or higher than we had ever thought, and then *eye*. a Achilles tendon, a rotator cuff, a wrist or your lower back and a feeling of how stupid we could have been to push our body to a place where he was not ready. Practice "not harmful" in her yoga practice is one of the most striking ways to change your relationship with your body and yoga yourself. If we practice physical asana from a place of "non -violence", our practice is far more wiser and more sustainable. Before you move on your mat, take a moment to turn on and hear what your body needs that day. Do you usually choose a strong Ashtanga sequence, but do you feel that your joints would benefit from a recovery session today? Do you feel sluggish and heavy and know intuitively that your body requires a dynamic, circulatory -promoting movement? If you are invited to choose the more physically advanced option in class, note whether this choice is really right for you or whether your ego simply urges you.

ahimsa in their relationships:

If you are in a lockdown situation in Great Britain for months, things may feel a bit intensely at home. If you and your partner were together a quantity , more than usual in the past year, whether you started to snap at each other or take a matter of course. At this point we need space, so make sure you get enough. If you both work from home, spend some time in separate rooms and think about whether you want to go for a walk every day or alone. At the other end of the spectrum, it is important to create a certain time for life together, which still feels particularly special. Can you cook a meal together? Watch your favorite film? Or just sit and chat with a cup of tea in a rainy afternoon without distraction?

ahimsa at work:

Working from home means the boundaries between what work and Freizeit looks like how can be too out of focus. If you realize that you have checked and answered your emails at times that you had never dreamed of a few months ago, this is a good time to think about and re-determine where your working / residential borders have to be determined. While we all have to support each other now (which can indeed be overtime or several zoom conferences per day), it is more important than ever to see when our holy personal time is adopted. Try to adhere to working hours, switch off your email and telephone notifications if you do not work and breathe in before you answer this email in an angry tone you may regret!

ahimsa in your diet:

One of the most controversial topics that often appear during yoga teacher training is the concept of “non -violence” in nutrition and whether every yogi should be vegan. While many Indian diets are vegetarian, a lot of fish is also consumed in parts of southern India, and the importance of ghee and dairy products throughout India as well as the yogic tradition are strongly emphasized. The most important thing when practicing ahimsa In accordance with your diet, you eat what your body needs and enjoys personally, and at the same time pay attention to where your food comes from and what treatment animal products may have received. What the body of a person benefits is completely different from that of another person. So we can not only hear what we really need, but also eat as seasonally and locally as possible, but also practice ahimsa in nutrition by not judging the decisions of other people.

ahimsa in your head:

Would you speak to your best friend as you talk to yourself? If the answer is "of course not!", then your next step is on the yogic way to start practicing ahimsa with the words you speak to yourself. Our mind can sometimes easily be our best friends or the worst enemies, and all of this can have a strong impact on our emotions and our mental health. Just practice watching your thoughts without being involved in them at all. Watch them like passing clouds and consider whether you want to keep these thoughts in your head, whether you would say these words to someone else and how much you could harm you. They deserve to hear honest words and words that match their true self. So if you start to scold yourself negatively, stop physically and say it yourself "enough", This can effectively break the pattern of the harmful soliloquy.