Foundations of Yoga: Ten Important Principles Every Meditator Should Know

An in-depth explanation of the foundational principles of Patanjali's Ashtanga Yoga: Yama and Niyama.

Yama and Niyama are often called the Ten Commandments of Yoga, but they have nothing to do with the ideas of sin and virtue or good and evil as dictated by some cosmic potentate. Rather they are determined by a thoroughly practical, pragmatic basis: that which strengthens and facilitates our yoga practice should be observed and that which weakens or hinders it should be avoided. It is not a matter of being good or bad, but of being wise or foolish. Each one of these Five Don’ts (Yama) and Five Do’s (Niyama) is a supporting, liberating foundation of Yoga.

Yama means self-restraint in the sense of self-mastery, or abstention, and consists of five elements. Niyama means observances, of which there are also five. Here is the complete list of these ten Pillars as given in Yoga Sutras 2:30,32:

Ahimsa: non-violence, non-injury, harmlessness

Satya: truthfulness, honesty

Asteya: non-stealing, honesty, non-misappropriativeness

Brahmacharya: sexual continence in thought, word and deed as well as control of all the senses

Aparigraha: non-possessiveness, non-greed, non-selfishness, non-acquisitiveness

Shaucha: purity, cleanliness

Santosha: contentment, peacefulness

Tapas: austerity, practical (i.e., result-producing) spiritual discipline

Swadhyaya: introspective self-study, spiritual study

Ishwarapranidhana: offering of one’s life to God