So, yoga is more than just poses. Yoga has eight limbs which I listed in my post More To Yoga Than Just Asana. The first two limbs are rules, restrictions, guidelines things of that nature. Things to help you along the path to the divine. The first limb is about the yamas and the second is about the niyamas, I listed them in my post Yoga’s First Two Limbs. Now I am going through and writing a post about each one. I wrote about Ahimsa in Ahimsa And Yourself, which I probably should have title Ahimsa and MYself. I write about this not because I have mastered them but because I am examining yoga ideas and ideals. So if you hear me saying something harmful, please know I am still learning. The next yama is satya. Satya is truthfulness.
Satya or truthfulness can be applied to so many things, right? I mean if I go back to the exercise I mentioned I did recently and think about satya on the mat that can apply in so many ways. Am I really being truthful with myself about what I can do? Am I really being truthful that I am concerned with only myself? I mean, if we are not concerned about what others think about what we are doing in class, does it really matter if we don’t do the advance version of the pose? Can we really do it without causing injury to our self?
And that can carry to off the mat, huh? Are we going to brag (why?) that we did more than we actually did in class? Are we going to tell the truth in all of our dealings?
Satya could be applied to teachers. Not just yoga teachers but to any teacher or profession that sets fees. We need to be truthful and upfront about our fees. Now this could help some of us that feel shy when talking about money and fees. Yoga teachers can use satya to help them feel confident stating the fees upfront. Things should be discussed openly and honestly. A client should not be left to wonder about fees for a service.
Also satya can apply to marketing. We don’t need to get caught up on all the hype that is used in a lot of marketing, making promising, and stating unsupported facts just to get people to come to our classes. If we make false claims and that is what attracted the student then they probably aren’t really going to get a lot out of yoga and they are more than likely NOT going to be satisfied. Then, as a teacher, you aren’t either, so no one wins in that situation.
As I stated in my Ahimsa post, I am just barely touching the surface on these things. I think there could be volumes written about them . . . and there probably are. They can be applied to many thing in so many ways.
I think truthfulness is one of the easiest ones to understand. It might not be one of the easiest ones to do in thoughts, words, and actions. But, here we all are . . . on a path of learning.
What do you think? One of the easy yamas to understand?
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