Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Yamas & the Niyamas


What?

Yamas? Niyamas?

The Yamas & Niyamas are yoga's ten ethical guidelines and comprise the first two limbs of Yoga's eight-fold path.

They are the foundation of skillful living.

Yamas include nonviolence, truthfulness, nonstealing, nonexcess and nonpossessiveness. Niyamas include purity, contentment, self-discipline, self-study and surrender.

Deborah Adele is the author of the book "Yamas & the Niyamas - Exploring Yoga's Ethical Practice"and the co-owner of YogaNorth in Duluth, MN.

She'll be not only my guest this week on Realgoodwords, but she'll also be in Grand Rapids on Sunday morning (November 22) to kick off a guided study of her book at Center.
In the preface of her book, The Yamas & Niyamas: Exploring Yoga's Ethical Practice, Deborah Adele says, "We all want to live well. Let's face it, at the end of the day, it's not how much you have or how much you accomplished that counts. What matters is how well you have participated in your own life, both the ordinary routines and the extraordinary surprises." Deborah brings these 10 guidelines to life with gentleness and grace as she shares her own life stories. She provides opportunities for self reflection as she challenges us to apply yogic wisdom to our lives today.

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