Yoga Sutras: The Niyamas | 5 week course

Dear Yogis & Yoginis,

Welcome to the exploration of the five yogic observances from the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. During the 5 weeks for the 5 Niyamas, the soulful blend of yoga asana and philosophy for inspired living will help you embody these ancient teachings and inspire your practice. Explore Niyamas, the yogic observances, through movement practice, meditation and journaling, and let them serve you as a guide for living a meaningful, purposeful life.

In the ancient text “Yoga Sutras” by Patanjali, he offers the 8 limbs path towards Samadhi, the spiritual enlightenment. The first, stepping stones on the path of Yoga, are the Yamas and Niyamas. In a broad sense, the Yamas are the core values about what not to do, and the Niyamas are about what to do.

For the sake of Sanskrit, they are almost interchangeable because every one of these can be formulated in terms of its opposite very easily. According to Patanjali, they provide the groundwork for what’s to come, and whoever wants to have a successful meditation practice should cultivate these restraints and observances. Each of these practices provides a context and foundation for what follows.

When exploring the Niyamas, one can be caught off guard by some of the traditional teachings and translations that are not sugar-coated for Westerners, and can sometimes seem very radical. When such a trigger happens, I would like you to remind yourself, that Patanjali's primary audience were the renunciates, monks.

What we are doing in this series, is taking the traditional teachings and looking at how can they serve us in the circumstances we live in, (mostly) as “householders”, not monks. How can we relate to them, and what are the lessons we can take from them. It doesn't mean that everything will resonate with us or our way of living. So please, stay open, explore, practice, and let it transform you.

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