Guest Post by Brenda McMahon
In the last 5 weeks, we explored half of Yoga’s ‘10 commandments’, the Yamas, which are general guidelines for ‘being’ in the world. Now we move into the 5 Niyama’s, which are more personal principles to consider in your life. These commandments are meant as reminders about living in our greatest place of awareness – here and now. They are meant as non-judgemental principles and helping aids as tools for awarenesses. They are not manifestos or dogmatic commands.
The first niyama is Sauca, pronounced sow-cha, meaning purity and cleanliness. Sauca has both an inner and an outer aspect. Outer cleanliness simply means keeping ourselves clean and comfortable. The real lesson with sauca relates to our inner cleanliness; this has as much to do with creating a healthy body as it does a healthy mind.
In yoga, balance and awareness are the primary points of attention. You are not asked to judge what you see, but to begin to bring awareness to your life and from there, make changes that are healthy. We begin with the notion that our body is our temple. What do you feed your body and how does it feel? Do you eat on the run, over indulge or deny yourself food when you are experiencing stress?
How do you treat your body? Do you rest when you need to or do you push through without regard to how you’re feeling? As the tensions and challenges of divorce take hold, how do you attend to your needs or more importantly, how do you ignore your needs in the place of anger, resentment, sadness & pain?
As important as Sauca is with your body and your health, it is even more important to have cleanliness of mind. What are your unconscious mind thoughts? Is your anger hurting you, making you speak negative self-talk? Is you pain forcing you to question your value, your beauty, your strength? Do you feel anger, greed, lust, delusion, pride? These are all depleting energies that hurt only you.
Yoga is designed to bring you back into alignment & balance. You are being asked to notice what you feed your body…and what thoughts you feed your mind. How can you bring more ‘cleanliness & purity’ into your inner life? These are the meditations of Sauca. As you ask and answer the questions, remember to do it with Ahimsa (kindness) to yourself and to reveal your emotions with Satya (respectfulness & truthfulness).
In yoga the clearest way to have cleanliness of body and mind is to cleanse your lungs by doing your breathing (pranayama) and to tone your body by doing your physical practice (Asana) thereby releasing toxins. The next major frontier is quieting your mind through meditation. Paying attention to the principles of Sauca, is a meditation. It is an awareness of who you are and how you are treating yourself.
This week honor yourself by taking one step toward cleansing your body, by watching what you eat or how you treat your physical body. Then take another step toward cleansing your mind by paying attention to thoughts you are having that do not serve, respect or honor you. This week, enjoy the simple practice of sauca – inner purity & cleanliness.
To access the entire 12 Part Yoga Series, click here.
Brenda McMahon is a full-time Ceramic Artist traveling nationally & internationally showing her artwork and teaching clay workshops. She creates meditative porcelain vessels and Yoga Oms in her private studio. Brenda is a passionate student of metaphysics and has been a Yogi for 10 years.
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