Words Matter: Ahimsa

Words Matter

I haven't found a yoga community yet in my new home town. But I know that studios everywhere will be mourning the loss of two women in a shooting in a Tallahassee yoga studio. We will practice yoga with their lives and their loved-ones in mind. When there is no safe space in America, not in a church, a synagogue, a school, or a yoga studio, where do you turn? 

Yoga is not a religion, although yoga philosophy shares ancient ethical texts with religions that developed alongside the many branches of yoga. Yoga communities tend to be close-knit. Together, you remove your shoes, step onto your mat, and move in synchronicity, even though the poses (or asana) are individualized to unique bodies. Yogis tend to attend the same classes each week, so they catch up before and after class on how the kids are doing and whether the leak in the roof got fixed. Yoga means "to yoke"--the yogis connect to one another, the body to the mind, and the body-mind to something greater than ourselves. 

In a time of profound disconnect in our country, making and practicing more connection seems like the only possible path, however you choose to build those bridges. between yourself and others, between your individual life and something bigger than yourself.

The word ahimsa is the first of ten ethical principals introduced in the yogic text The Yoga Sutras. Ahimsa means "not causing pain," although it is most often translated as nonviolence. It is the most basic of ethical principles, and the great explicators of the old text tell us that while ahimsa certainly means the obvious--don't do physical violence to others--it also means don't harm others through your words or actions. We have come to a point in America where the connection between words that harm and physical violence is tragically visible. This is no longer a subtle argument. If you think negative thoughts about yourself, you harm yourself. If you spew hatred in your speech, you not only hurt other people's feelings, you create an environment in which physical violence is encouraged. 

Yoga Sutra 2.35: "In the presence of one firmly established in nonviolence, all hostilities cease." This is Swami Satchidananda's translation. He reminds us that St. Francis, Buddha, and Mahatma Gandhi all practiced ahimsa. Most of us don't pretend to resemble those figures, but the onus is on each of us to try. Yoga is a practice. Being human is a practice. Practicing ahimsa in all its facets is a good start. Words matter.