EXPLORING THE YAMAS,
YOGA’S FIRST LIMB
a 5-week series guided by Kristi Cole
as always, included for members
“Love is not a thought, it is an action. And each loving action we take infuses us with more energy for loving action in the future.”
-RALPH GATES, Meditations from the Mat
a 5-week course for intentional living in this New Year
As we embark on a New Year, many of us will set resolutions or intentions to guide our whats: what we want to create, what we want to accomplish, what we want to manifest. While important to consider and incredibly beneficial, I invite you to dive one layer deeper. This 5-week exploration of the Yamas—Yoga’s 1st Limb—will ask you to examine your hows: how you think, how you act, how you show up in this world.
Week-by-week we will explore the 5 powerful principles of the Yamas: non-harming, truthfulness, non-stealing, balance and letting go. Through a weekly full-spectrum practice, dharma talk and journal prompts, we invite you to use the path of yoga to uncover yourself layer by layer so you may go forth living intentionally in 2022!
non-harming
AHIMSA
“Free from all thoughts of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ that man finds utter peace.”
— BHAGAVAD GITA
journal: What parallels do you see in how you treat yourself and how you treat others?
truthfulness
SATYA
“Learn to be what you are, and learn to resign with a good grace all that you are not.”
— HENRI FREDERIC AMIEL
journal: What is one lie you have been living in an effort to avoid conflict or hardship?
non-stealing
ASTEYA
“Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.”
— SIMONE WEIL
journal: Name one area in your life where you have destination mindset: “This will be better when…” How can you replace future thinking with present gratitude?
balancing energies
BRAHMACHARYA
“Brahmacharya reminds us to enter each day and each action with a sense of holiness rather than indulgence.”
— DEBORAH ADELE
journal: What does it feel like to be “out of balance” and what brings you back to center?
non-excess
APARIGRAHA
“Yoga de-ages us. Forgiveness does for the soul and for our relationships what the postures do for our bodies.”
— RALPH GATES
journal: What do you need to forgive yourself for?