The Yamas series - Ahimsa
The first of the yamas is ahimsa – non-violence or kindness in thoughts words and actions. It’s rooted in love and underpins all of the Yama and Niyama.
It’s a tough time for many of us at the moment and I’ve found that focussing on ahimsa has really helped me through the days. I started small and simple, making an effort to smile and say hello or thank you to people when I’m out and about – supermarket staff, people who stand aside to give me space to pass, people I stand aside for to give them space to pass. Even through a mask the smile and the response from people gave me a feeling of connection and good will.
I’ve also been putting myself in others’ shoes and where I might find something frustrating, which is all too easy to do, trying to be less judgemental and approach with kindness. That’s less easy to do and sometimes it’s about letting go the frustration.
Where I knew I’d be challenged was with my internal monologue. I started making a note of my recurrent negative thoughts so I could spot the patterns and challenge the evidence for what I’m thinking and giving me the change to be kind to myself.
I’ve found that taking a step back from situations can help too. On a day when I was getting increasingly cross trying to cancel a subscription on a website that was hard to navigate in the first place, and then the process doing everything it can to get you to stay, I realised that the force which I was clicking the mouse and tapping the keyboard was hurtful and violent, I was not invoking ahimsa at all. And whilst my laptop may not have been sensing the hurt, I was upsetting and being unkind to myself by doing it. That in turn was winding me up more.
It’s been helpful and interesting to me to consider those situations where we feel powerless in terms of ahimsa. Feeling powerless can lead us into feelings of frustration and can be where hurtful feelings and action come from. In situations where I feel stuck I’ve been trying to consider what choices I might still have, even if it’s a choice about how I feel rather than something I can do, or feeling grateful for what I have and considering the situation with kindness. There’s still a lot more I can work on here but in the spirit of ahimsa I recognise how helpful these last two weeks have been for me.
More information
Deborah Adele (2009), The Yamas and Niyamas, Exploring Yoga’s Ethical Practice
Rachel Bonkirk (2020), Flex your mind, 10 powerful Yoga principles for less stress in a busy world.