The Yama and Niyama, a Trainer's Ethics

The path of yoga, according to Patanjali, does not begin with postures, nor with breathing, nor with meditation. It begins with the Yama and the Niyama, ethical principles that govern our relationship to ourselves and to others. Why does this come right at the start of the journey, and why does it matter so much at the beginning of a training, or of any reflection on the act of transmitting?

The Yama and the Niyama are ten guidelines for ethical behavior and attitude, toward ourselves and toward the world. We find them, too, in other forms, in various religions, but according to Patanjali, they form the first stage of the path of yoga, a kind of foundation, a base for every other practice. It is truly a starting condition. If we look at the laws of nature, ethics is directly connected to them: it is not a duty imposed by an authority external to human beings. It normally comes from human essence itself, from a life connected to its sources, to human nature, to our whole being, to our instincts, to healthy behavior. Ahimsa, non-violence, is a good example of this: it is not an arbitrary commandment, but an observation, that when we act with the intention of doing no harm, the results turn out to be almost always more harmonious.

But because we are often confused, unclear, sometimes neurotic, Patanjali also proposes that we remember them, hold onto them, reorient ourselves toward them regularly: five Yama and five Niyama. The Yama concern our behavior toward ourselves in general; the Niyama, our behavior, our action toward the world and others, starting from ourselves. These rules are not only a condition for the other dimensions of practice, the asanas, pranayama, meditation, the work on the five senses: they are a genuine resource for giving one's own life an alignment, a practice in its own right, to be put in place and cultivated regularly.

Adjusting to these rules, training in them, helps orient the mind toward a healthy way of functioning, developing, little by little, greater psychic, physical, and emotional stability, but also spiritual stability, in order to grow. By regularly honoring the five Yama and the five Niyama, we are at peace with life, with ourselves, with others, and we find the strength to live in harmony.

For a trainer, working on themselves, aligning their practice with the Yama and the Niyama, gives a stability, an integrity that lend weight, value to what will be said afterward, and that makes it easier to build a relationship of trust with trainees, with students. This makes learning easier for everyone. It is a bit like learning itself: we would rather learn from a calm, peaceful, happy person than from someone agitated or irritable. Faced with an aligned person, trainees and students can also connect to that stability, that integrity, and so find the space they need to learn. Recognizing, too, that our knowledge is not unlimited, that we are not infallible, paradoxically allows us to be more at peace, with ourselves and with those to whom we transmit.