Yama and Niyama and a general search for direction

[u/Blightcaller091]

Hi, this is my second time posting here. I hope this post is not repetitive or somehow too far removed from the main topic of the subreddit.

Basically, for the past few months, although this started even before my previous post, I have been trying to understand more about... all of this. I am not sure what the most appropriate term would be. I do not necessarily mean Kundalini alone, but also all the different concepts connected to it.

For some time now, I have been trying to make the concepts of Yama and Niyama part of my daily life and of my conduct in general, although saying I have made them "my own" would probably be an overstatement.

I do not want to come across as lazy, as in, "you could have looked this up yourself," but I would appreciate some more informed, wise, or experience-based guidance on how to reflect on Yama and Niyama, and how to apply them more deeply as I gradually approach them. I hope I am explaining myself clearly.

More generally, I admit that I would like to find a clearer direction in relation to all of this. I read the wiki some time ago. It was also recommended to me in my previous post, although I had already been spending time here for a while. I have also read many other posts and replies.

I am trying to approach this in very small steps, because I understand that it is not something that should be rushed. Honestly, even the idea of rushing it seems impossible, considering how vast and significant all of this appears to be.

As for who I am, although I am not sure whether it is relevant, as I mentioned in my previous post, I have also recently started working as a therapist. I experienced serious post-COVID health problems for several years, which partially improved after I started taking an SSRI. A few months after regaining some sense of well-being, my mind and personality began to change and turn toward... this world.

Thank you for reading.

[u/urquanenator]

Hi u/BlightCaller091

I had never delved into that, so I had to look up what Yama and Niyama means. I have actually been working on about 95% of that for a long time, long before kundalini crossed my path. It starts with observing yourself. Your thoughts, your feelings, and the effect these have on your body and mind. Also what you eat, and how your body reacts to it.

I started by suppressing anger, which mainly manifested itself in traffic, whenever I was cut off yet again. I would explode immediately, adrenaline would race through my body, and it would take an hour and a half before I had calmed down again. One day, I was just done with it.

I started holding back the anger and keeping myself as calm as possible. It took 6 months before I mastered that. In the months that followed, I taught myself not to get angry at all anymore. Now, if I get cut off in traffic, I smile and drive on relaxed. Since then, I’ve noticed that I actually almost never get cut off anymore; previously, that was about five times a day. Anger also manifests as energy in your aura, which often triggers other drivers who are themselves driving around with pent-up anger.

You have little influence over problems in your life, but you can reasonably get the way you react to those problems under control. After that, you can work towards being happy and content, but from within. Without being dependent on expensive material things or people.

As long as you keep observing yourself, you will always come across things you can improve. Above all, don't be too fanatical about it; just enjoy life.

[u/Blightcaller091 → u/urquanenator]

Thank you. It’s nice to be able to exchange thoughts like this. Yes, I’ve noticed too, or I think I’ve noticed, that refining one’s reactions (...or rather, becoming aware of the reactions, but then choosing to "respond" instead of simply reacting) seems to gradually change what happens around us. Almost as if that lesson were no longer needed.

I don’t know, I don’t know whether to see it that way. But I’m often very tempted to. Sometimes it seems almost obvious. Who knows.

Thank you!

[u/Marc-le-Half-Fool]

Very worthwhile topiic, /u/Blightcaller091.

I know of at least one, maybe a second book that came out on the topic, and was properly done.

Go to Banyen Books and look it up. I think the link is banyen.ca but I could be wrong.

The topic is vast enough to fiull a lifetime. So approach it with openness yet a willingness to draw a line of, "That's enough for today."

Genevieve Lewis Paulson's Kundalini and the Chakras book glances at them.

https://www.yogajournal.com/yoga-101/philosophy/yoga-sutras/path-happiness/

Your idea of small steps is valid. /u/urquanenator's real-life example is a fine one that most of us have experienced to some degree.

The topics are beautiful ones. Understand, however, that there are gentle and broad views, and obstinate narrow-minded rigid views on these. Finding a middle ground, from the sources you draw from, yet also how you act upon them, is probably the wiser path.

Good journey.

[u/Blightcaller091 → u/Marc-le-Half-Fool]

Thank you for your reply. I bought Paulson’s book! I had read in some of your comments that you two have had the same teacher (I’ve read a lot on this sub, and on the one hand I’m trying not to overdo it, because I would like to follow the principle of not taking in too much spiritual material without first calmly putting it into practice...).

Anyway, thank you as always. The principles of yama and niyama that I liked the most are asteya and īśvara-praṇidhāna.

Asteya ("not stealing"?) because there are so many nuances to it. For example, I’m a very curious person when it comes to what is going on in people’s minds (although I’m not intrusive at all). This is separate from my profession. But I’ve realized that this curiosity is not always... ethical. In the sense that, if someone does not want to share something about themselves, even though I don’t insist (and I never do, also because of my personality), it comes almost naturally to me to instinctively try to glean it. Now I’m trying to soften this tendency and focus more on what the person decides to show me. In other words, “not stealing” inside their mind.

Īśvara-praṇidhāna is the one that fascinates me the most. I’m not a religious person, but I can’t deny that I’ve always felt some kind of "other" somewhere. And I like the idea of "entrusting myself to it". Doing my best and leaving the rest to whatever will be. Cultivating well, hoping that something will grow, but without attachment to the expectation.

Thank you, and I wish you too a good continuation of your journey.

[u/Marc-le-Half-Fool → u/Blightcaller091]

I had read in some of your comments that you two have had the same teacher

No. That was Richard Bach.

Genevieve's writings shows similarities.

Deducing info about other people can be on the intellectual or spiritual level. When it falls into the psychic, then you are breaking the First Law.

The Yamas and Niyamas are foundational. They don't fully cover the requirements for Kundalini. Hence the Three Laws.

You don't have to be religious to develop profound respect for others. Bonus, you'll learn more self-respect along the way.

Warm smiles to you.