Ahimsa
By Bonnie Pariser
Yoga is an Eastern scientific system that goes beyond physical poses. The essential, core principle of yoga is ahimsa, the Sanskrit word for non-violence. According to the Yoga Sutras, an ancient yoga text, ahimsa is the first step in achieving a what yoga practitioners strive for, serenity.
Westerners first became aware of ahimsa when Mahatma Gandhi led India to independence in the early 1900s by following the path of peaceful disobedience. In India, Gandhi was considered a great yogi, but not because he did terrific headstands. He was practicing the primary observance in yoga on a grand scale.
Easy, you may think at first glance: Don’t go around hitting others and you’re on your way to nirvana.
Not so easy.
The principle of ahimsa can be applied to how you approach a yoga class. An important first step in yoga is to find and maintain a “steady, comfortable, peaceful seat.” If you hurt yourself on the mat by trying to go into poses that are beyond your ability, you are violating ahimsa. Once you move into pain, you are no longer upholding a peaceful inner environment.
The benefits of yoga do not come from how we look or perform on the yoga mat in class. How we move and think and feel in class influences what we do outside, in our regular life. If we practice kindness to ourselves in the face of twisty, wobbly, awkward poses and manage to keep a peaceful inner state, or simply recognize that we have shifted away from inner peace, chances are we can find serenity when we encounter difficulties in our street clothes.
Practicing ahimsa in yoga class may be as simple as coming into child's pose (a forward folded resting position) if you are overwhelmed or fatigued by the yoga pose you are holding. One indication that you are approaching mastery of any pose is recognizing that we are moving out of peace and in to difficulty, and responding to that appropriately.
Recognizing the transition from balance to imbalance, from peace to awkwardness or even hostility, can serve us in our relationships. When we see we are moving away from peace, we have a choice to either continue on the path to conflict, or move back towards serenity.
When you find yourself in conflict with others, as Gandhi demonstrated, following ahimsa may allow you to rest in conscious observation before reacting, a symbolic dropping in to child's pose.
The study of yoga philosophy shows us that when we cause harm we move away from our heart. We cut out a piece of ourselves and are no longer whole. We become more agitated. It is a downward cycle.
If we choose to go the kinder path, we feed our heart. This will be reflected in how we feel on all levels.
Practicing ahimsa may just seem like the right thing to do, at first. After a while, though, you might find that it’s the only way to go.
