Second Limb of Yoga: Niyama

Niyamas are observances, practices, lifestyle habits to help one stay the course of Right Living or living a balanced, healthy lifestyle. They are:

Saucha—(purity) is the practice of regular detoxification and purification of the body.  Neti pot use (a bowl shaped like "aladdins lamp" used for cleaning head and upper respiratory), purging (oral, bowels, sweating), washing body, mouth, etc. for the cleanliness of one's body and prevention of impurities (such as colds, allergies, infections, etc.) In addition to this, purification includes eating food that is healthy and non-toxic to body.  It is important to understand that food is the life source for every living cell in our bodies and it should “be eaten with reverence, gratefulness, and the attitude of nourishing our physical bodies to serve” our Higher Power-- in other words, “Our bodies are temples to the Lord”.

Santosha—(modesty) feeling content with what one has.  It is the practice of accepting what happens to us as meant to happen in order to offer us an opportunity for a life lesson.  It is not a predestined event but rather a time to seek God’s will in the event.  Simply put, it is a time to ask ourselves “what am I suppose to learn from this event?”  This practice includes study, physical efforts, attitude checks, and perception checks.

Tapas—(burning) “it means to have a burning effort under all circumstances to achieve a definite goal in life”.  In yoga it means to heat up the garbage in our bodies and burn it (practice of ujiyaa breath).  It means to pay attention to what we eat, to body posture, attention to breathing patterns off the mat as well (when we walk, relate to others, when we feel anxious, angry, peaceful, etc.) Through regular meditation practice one burns up mental toxins and through practice one burns up physical toxins.

Svadyaya—(examination) to study oneself—all learning and reflection helps one learn about oneself which is the ultimate experience of human development.

Ishvarapranidhana—(lay all your actions at the feet of God) After we do our best, with sincere modesty we leave the rest to our Higher Power.  It is giving God the glory for everything that happens in our lives and the reason for the things to happen.  It is the emptying oneself of desires in order to fill oneself with the Source of all power.

(quotes from BKS Iyengar and DKS Desikachar)