Yama and Niyama for Travel
This post was inspired by another yoga & meditation teacher, one whom I have not yet met in person, but with whom I have been enjoying chats on social media. I hope it inspires your practice, in both thoughts and actions.
Lightening quick intro
For those who are seeing the words Yama and Niyama for the first time:
One of the central texts in yogic philosophy is known as the Yoga Sutras, compiled by the sage Patanjali nearly 2500 years ago. The contemporary translation by Sri Swami Satchidananda is widely used in yoga teacher trainings in the west (if you haven’t had the chance to study it in community with a teacher, I strongly recommend it).
Within the Yoga Sutras, you’ll find the Eight Limbs of Yoga, of which the Asana (postures/poses) that you may love, is just one. The Yama and Niyama are the first and second of the eight limbs. They create a foundation for any practitioner’s path to Samadhi (enlightenment) by outlining a moral code of practice=life=practice.
If it adds to your love of practice
Studying and practicing all Eight Limbs is a lifelong journey, and as our practice ebbs, flows, and changes over the years, we may find that some of the limbs come alive a little more than others for a time.
If, today, an exercise on applying the Yama and Niyama to a particular sphere of life (travel, social justice, relationships, parenting, work, etc.) could bring a freshness to practice that you might need, please take what I have drafted below and revise any/all of it to better reflect your own understandings and calls to action.
Yama & Niyama applied to travel
Ahimsa - Nonviolence: I choose modes of travel consciously each time I travel to minimize doing harm to the planet
Satya - Truthfulness: I learn about and honor the indigenous cultures of the lands I travel to; I acknowledge my privilege in being able to travel and balance each opportunity with actions that give back or provide increased opportunity for others
Asteya - Nonstealing: I honor the creators of what I consume when I travel; I choose to consume goods and services that are locally based
Brahmacharya - Conserving Vital Life Force: I slow down when I travel instead of rush; I give myself ample time to prepare for and to recuperate/integrate from my experience; (conserving resources: I travel within my means)
Aparigraha - Non Grasping: I travel with openness to learning and experiencing, without a sense of entitlement for particular services, experiences, or consumption
Saucha - Purification: I travel with respect for the cultural customs of hygiene & dress wherever I land; I travel only when healthy, not putting fellow travelers at risk for only my benefit
Santosha - Contentment: I travel, return, or stay, knowing that the sources of happiness and wonder are present wherever I am
Tapas - Self-Discipline (literally: Heat): Knowing that my practice nourishes my sense of presence, stability, and openness, I commit part of every day to my practice while traveling
Svadhyaya - self-study through the Vedas: I take time to learn about the spiritual traditions of my travel destinations, participate in ceremony if appropriate, and seek other ways to gain wisdom for my own spiritual growth through the traditional wisdom and texts of my travel destinations
Ishvara Pranidhana - Surrender to the divine: Wherever I travel, I open to indigenous spiritual wisdom, including the seasonal flows of Mother Nature
*with very special thanks to Laura Johnson of @arestfulspace for posting reflections and questions that get me thinking in all the best ways
