SAUCHA

As we continue down the yogic path, we explore the Niyamas.  Here the path turns more inward as the Niyamas are offered as a reflective pool in which we gaze deeper into ourselves.  We explore our inner world and offer grace to ourselves along the path to discovery and transformation.   In The Heart of Yoga, Desikachar says, “Compared to the yamas, the niyamas are more intimate and personal.  They refer to the attitude we adopt toward ourselves.”  The opportunity to take yoga beyond an acrobatic or athletic practice into a spiritual one can be found in studying and practicing both the Yamas and Niyamas.

Like the Yamas there are five Niyamas:

Saucha                        Purity

Samtosha or Santosa  Contentment

Tapas                           Austerity/Discipline

Swadhyaya                  Study/Self-Study

Ishvar Pranidhana       Surrender/ Devotion to the Divine

Purity (saucha) is practiced both in the inner and outer aspects of oneself.  The outer aspects deal with cleanliness of the body and home, while the inner focuses on both the mind (purity in thought and emotion) and body (the foods we eat.)  The challenge in understanding this Niyama is how to practice purity for ourselves, without self-judgement or passing judgment onto others. 

Explore what is pure for you. What helps you to be free from desires that cloud your mind or food that weighs down the body? How have you contaminated your thoughts and actions that have created the lack of purity in your relationships?  Finding balance in the practice of purity, freeing the mind from the temptation of distortion, helps us to clear the way along the path.  

Key in the practice of Saucha is being aware of your relationship with things. For instance, do you self-criticize when you eat in certain ways or consume certain food?  Can you shift your relationship with how you eat or what you are eating? What may be much more unhealthy for you is the relationship you have with things rather than the things themselves. Purity has the element of being free from contamination.  A great practice is to watch for how you may be contaminating things in your relationship with yourself, food, your home, your friends, and family.  

It can be just as harmful to you to become too rigid or too slack with this practice. What are you adulterating in this practice that moves it from self acceptance or caring to self-criticism or even self-hatred?  Are you justifying certain behaviors that limit your practice, allowing you to slip into old habits?  Cleanliness is a balanced energy, but when contaminated with criticism or rigidity it can become obsessive.

Remember that the Niyamas are for our personal journey, not a tool to modify the world around us.  The reflection of the self in this mirror is for you alone. May grace and compassion surround you in this practice.