ahimsa: the voice in the corner of your mind
ahimsa
non-harming. the first yama, and maybe the one we think we already understand.
literally, ahimsa means non-harming. it is pretty obvious that it is not good to hurt others, physically. but violence is more subtle. deborah adele says that fear breeds violence, and that really made me think. i have been imagining practicing ahimsa in a yoga class. what would that look like?
adele also says that self-love comes first, and the inability to love one's self can hinder your ability to love others. so an essential and difficult task in practicing ahimsa is to turn inward and practice self-love. it seems to be a balance between building confidence and competence -- to develop self-love -- and backing off of effort that can lead to a sense of failure, fear, or even injury.
i invited my students this week to feel each pose as it is, without pushing or backing away. i offered them props to help them come into poses more skillfully and with less effort. and then i thought about how, as a yoga instructor, i need to bring a similar balance to my teaching, particularly when working with individual students. if i encourage a student to use a block in trikonasana, am i helping, or preventing them from exploring the pose more deeply without it?
there is no simple answer to this question, as it depends on the individual situation. but raising the awareness seems important.
june's perspective: the inner voice
june also looked at ahimsa from an internal perspective. she asked: how do you speak to yourself? have you heard what you actually say to yourself?
"if i spoke to my friends the way i speak to myself, i would have no friends."
— diane, in class this week
and we are not just talking about the out loud voice. we are talking about the subtle, soft voice in the corner of your mind that tells you: you are not good enough, you are not smart, skilled, or strong enough, not pretty enough, not thin enough.
those are excuses, or justifications, for why you do not take an action you know very well is good for you, or will benefit you. they create an inner poverty that is expressed as doubt, low self-esteem. the reality, as the sri sukhta reminds us, is that there is, instead, an inner richness.
"our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. it is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. we ask ourselves, 'who am i to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' actually, who are you not to be?"
— marianne williamson, a return to love
we invite you to share your thoughts. you can do so in the blog section of our website, where you will see space for comments.
light your lamp & you light the world —
june and the moondog team