Yoga Theme for Heart Opening: Ahimsa

Ahimsa is the first step in Patanjali's eight-fold path of yoga, which starts with the Yamas: the moral and ethical and societal guidelines for the practice of yoga. Patanjali is assumed to be the compiler of the Yoga Sutras, which serve as the basis for yoga techniques. They integrate yoga into daily life and leading an ethical and moral life. The exact date of the recording of the Yoga Sutras in uncertain, but it is estimated to be around 200BC. No records of Patanjali's birth exist, and there are mythical explanations surrounding his birth. Patanjali instructs us that the sutras should be practiced on all levels: actions, words and thoughts, and that they are not confined to class, place, time or concept of duty.

Ahimsa transcends religion and addresses humanity. There are an additional 9 other yamas, support this basic code of conduct. Through the practice of yoga, as well as in our daily lives, we can practice Ahimsa.

The theory of Ahimsa is the practice of non-violence: But non violence in a truly holistic sense. It is non-violence in the sense of not bringing harm to others or any living creature, as well as yourself. So the concept of non-violence is in that you prevent the injury to yourself or others by the avoidance of that negativity.

Ahimsa is tolerance for even that which we dislike. It reminds us to not speak of anything that would harm others. It avoids gossip. It goes back to the principle many of our mothers taught us- "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything."

Ahimsa goes beyond the interpersonal, including not harming the environment.

Ahimsa speaks to having a compassionate heart, allowing ourselves to accept people and events in a non-judgmental way, with kindness, acceptance and love. Ghandi's definition of Ahimsa is simply put- "The avoidance of harm to any living creature in thought or deed." Compassion lets us view any situation with a kind and open heart. It removes judgment. It allows for what we do not know, and what we do not understand.

At first practicing compassion is hard, frustrating and challenging. But the key is to have compassion for oneself.

This takes us to basic yoga concept of opposition. When you cultivate the opposite through thoughts and emotion, the unwholesome tendencies are destroyed.

Ahimsa and the non-violence concepts illustrate how each element in the universe has a corresponding opposite. We see the negativity in our own thoughts and let them go to make room for the positive. We create a space for that positive thought, and don't cultivate it directly in Ahimsa, but rather make room for it to enter our hearts.

The key here is truly one of letting go. Instead of trying to love all people and things, Ahimsa simply is the letting go of the negativity, which opens our hearts. Once our hearts are open, anything is possible.

In our practice of yoga, we can use the asana, or pose, in expressing Ahimsa as we open our hearts. Through a physical practice of the asanas, we move through a series of poses that open the heart which help us to integrate ahimsa, where we embrace non-violence by making space in our hearts by removing the "violence" or negativity that may lie within each of us. Once we clear away those feelings, behaviors and actions, we make room in our hearts for the goodness, the love, the divine light that we all seek. And in doing so, we expand our own joy to others, who in turn may remove their own negativity, and the cumulative affect is a spreading of positive feelings, removal of violent ones, and an improvement that all of humanity can enjoy.

As a yogi becomes firmly grounded in non-violence (ahimsa), other people who come near will naturally lose any feelings of hostility. (ahimsa pratishthayam tat vaira-tyagah)

What a wonderful impact the practice of Ahimsa can have on us all.