Niyamas: Personal duties and spiritual observances to maintain a pure soul.
These 5 internal observances focus on positive habits, practices, and spiritual observances that are designed to build a healthy body and a clear, focused mind.
The focus here is on discipline, self-care, and spiritual growth.
1. Purity (Saucha)
࿔Perfection of purity brings clarity.࿔
Repeat after me, “I enter fully into each experience, and I come out fully from each of them, too. I put the whole of me into all I do, and out of all I do.”
The practice of purity invites us to cleanse our bodies, our speech, and our thoughts.
Tips for practicing purity:
๛Purify yourself physically through diet, exercise, or cleaning your home.
๛Purify your thoughts and speech. Be pure with something rather than trying to make something pure.
๛Quit multitasking. Set aside an undisturbed hour and dedicate the entire hour to one activity (example: eating an orange with no TV, book, or scrolling).
๛Be purely with yourself. Leave yourself alone. Do not be afraid of your thoughts and do not hide.
2. Contentment (Santosha)
࿔Perfection of contentment brings joy.࿔
Looking outward for fulfillment will always disappoint us and keep contentment one step out of reach.
Saucha invites us to fall in love with our own life.
Tips for practicing contentment:
๛Notice when you find yourself getting ready for the next thing or looking for something outside of yourself. DO NOT SEEK.
๛Notice how much energy you expend moving toward what you like and avoiding what you dislike. Notice any physical “gripping” sensations.
๛Trace every annoyance/disturbance back to yourself. Be content with the disturbance.
๛Practice gratitude and be content with each moment as it is.
3. Self Discipline (Tapas)
࿔Perfection of discipline brings refinement.࿔
You’ve probably seen this word on the menu of your favorite Spanish restaurant.
Tapas literally translates to “heat” and in the context of a yogic lifestyle, it is the willingness to be both burned and blessed.
Self discipline invites us to consciously choose discipline and growth.
Tips for practicing tapas:
๛Think about cathartic times in your life. When were you “checked out” from the pain, and when were you fearless in the fire and held on for the blessing?
๛Put yourself in the heat with enthusiasm. Like birds learning to fly. Let us live life in a different way.
๛Stay “one more minute” in whatever unpleasantness life presents. Can you allow the heat to burn away your judgements, opinions, and expectations?
๛Are your daily choices indulgent or do they build strength and character? Make choices that prepare you for the heat of life.
4. Self Study (Svadhyaya)
࿔Perfection of self study brings freedom.࿔
The divine is hiding inside and self study invites us to know thy self.
Tips for practicing self study:
๛Grow the power of your witness by watching your thoughts and actions as if you were watching a movie.
๛Discover some of the boxes you have yourself wrapped in. Do this by tracing all ripples of disharmony back to your life. Notice what personal belief system caused that disharmony. If your belief true? Are you experiencing reality or a box? We don’t always see things as they are, we see things as we are.
๛99% of what bothers you is about you. 99% of what bothers others has nothing to do with you. Practice taking responsibility for yourself and letting others be responsible for themselves.
5. Surrender (Ishvara Pranidhana)
࿔Perfection of surrender brings harmony.࿔
Surrender asks us to be strong enough to engage in each moment with integrity while being soft enough to flow with the current of life.
This principle invites us to pay attention to what life is asking of us.
Tips for practicing surrender:
๛Watch your attitude/responses to certain moments and notice if there is a pattern. Are you fearful, trusting, fighting, judging, or annoyed?
๛Tension arises in your body when you need a moment to be “your way.” Choose instead to relax your body and shift your attitude to curiosity.
๛Become a worthy student of each moment that life presents to you.
The way to have a good day is to open up the door and let God in! Believe in something that is greater than you are and let your actions, your mind, and your heart line up with that greatness.
Enlightened Escape 