The Yamas & Niyamas: Exploring Yoga's Ethical Practice
- Downloads：9491
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-06-20 06:52:16
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Deborah Adele
- ISBN：0974470643
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
The first two limbs of the eight-fold path of yoga sutras—the basic text for classical yoga—are examined in this spiritual guide to the practice of yoga。 Foundational to all yogic thought， they are considered to be the guidelines to the yoga way of living that free individuals to take ownership of their lives， direct them toward the fulfillment they seek， and gain the skills to choose attitude， thought， and action。 The first five guidelines are referred to as the yamas—a Sanskrit word that translates to "restraints"—and encompass nonviolence， truthfulness， not stealing， nonexcess， and nonpossessiveness。 The last five are referred to as the niyamas， or observances—purity， contentment， self-discipline， self-study， and surrender。 A self-study section at the end of each chapter may also be used by instructors for group discussion。
Reviews
Elisa
，
I loved this book。 It was really easy to read and understand。 The author used some clunky metaphors and examples （stop calling them jewels， Deborah！ And no one wants to know about a friend’s child who “held his stools”）， but other than that， it’s a great book that makes yogic philosophy very accessible。
Reagan Crook
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Such an amazing and comprehensive book！ I learned so much about the yamas and niyamas， the first two limbs of yoga。 Deborah has a beautiful introduction into each， writing in a very personal way that made it feel like you were chatting with a friend。 I would recommend this to anyone studying yoga or just wants to better themselves！
Melanie
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A book that I will likely read over and over again to absorb these principles into daily living。 So much wisdom packaged with easy to understand stories。
Matthew
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Highly readable and accessible。 Simplistic in a good way。
Terri
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This book teaches the spiritual practices through non-violence， truthfulness， no stealing， no excess， and non possessiveness。 It’s one that I will keep coming back to and bring with me on trips。 Anyone practicing self love will love this book。
Sofia
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I've never heard of the Yamas and Niyamas before， at least not all together and well explained。 The book provides a nice intro into the ethical practice of yoga while giving a lot of room for self exploration and inquiry。 I'll definitely come back to it in the future to revise my thoughts and actions。 I've never heard of the Yamas and Niyamas before， at least not all together and well explained。 The book provides a nice intro into the ethical practice of yoga while giving a lot of room for self exploration and inquiry。 I'll definitely come back to it in the future to revise my thoughts and actions。 。。。more
Danielle
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Interesting read about the practice of yoga being a lifestyle more than anything。 Best read in little portions but applied to life as a whole。
Lenka
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At least the book is short。 The author basically repackages the ideas of yamas and niyamas from the Sutras of Patanjali into chapters that are easy to digest and easy to comprehend by （mostly） Americans。 She throws at you a barage of movie and book references。 It is basically a compilation of quotes and stories by lots of other people， similar to most other self-help book。 Personally I’m not fond of this style and found myself tired by the constant jumping from one story to another。 I also didn’ At least the book is short。 The author basically repackages the ideas of yamas and niyamas from the Sutras of Patanjali into chapters that are easy to digest and easy to comprehend by （mostly） Americans。 She throws at you a barage of movie and book references。 It is basically a compilation of quotes and stories by lots of other people， similar to most other self-help book。 Personally I’m not fond of this style and found myself tired by the constant jumping from one story to another。 I also didn’t really find the author’s personal stories so relatable， like getting annoyed when her favourite burrito filling was out。That being said， I know some other people on my yoga teacher training who found this book very profound and even life-changing （this book was recommended reading for the course）。 。。。more
Francescajemm
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While I am not wholeheartedly opposed to any of the ideals contained in this book， the Yamas and Niyamas overall strike me as didactic and somewhat aggressive - not altogether different than the Ten Commandments， and I wish that a modern look would be able to exist within a trauma-informed perspective that accounts for the violence of white supremacy and the patriarchy， for the ills of society that make it impossible for some of us to have the luxury of an hour to eat an orange， or the nonsense While I am not wholeheartedly opposed to any of the ideals contained in this book， the Yamas and Niyamas overall strike me as didactic and somewhat aggressive - not altogether different than the Ten Commandments， and I wish that a modern look would be able to exist within a trauma-informed perspective that accounts for the violence of white supremacy and the patriarchy， for the ills of society that make it impossible for some of us to have the luxury of an hour to eat an orange， or the nonsense of suggesting fasting as a way to purify oneself when food scarcity and hunger is a real concern。 It’s not that the goals aren’t worth striving for， it’s that she seems beholden to a privileged reader and that her ideals are， in fact， often presented as binary。 。。。more
Karissa Devore
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A great guide to these concepts- each is explained thoroughly and in a way that is easy to understand。
Christine Morrow
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Thank you， Deborah， for aligning Eastern and Western belief systems and identifying the commonalities between yoga practice with Christianity- this book is a keeper to reread many times- impressing on us a guide for living our best lives—‘others centered’ with God occupying the complete center or top role- accepting trials as learning situations and not something to be avoided at all costs
Paige
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An important part to my yoga practice and life ❤️
Kimberly Purcell
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This was a recommended read for taking yoga teachers training。 Since the Yasmas and Niyamas are so hard to totally grasp straight from Patanjali's writings， most will look for someone's take and interpretation on them。 Adele's writing does a pretty good job of explaining them and how they apply to our lives today。 There's no way I can tell you what parts I liked the best because this is still incredibly deep reading for me。 This read will not be the only one。 This philosophy is something that ca This was a recommended read for taking yoga teachers training。 Since the Yasmas and Niyamas are so hard to totally grasp straight from Patanjali's writings， most will look for someone's take and interpretation on them。 Adele's writing does a pretty good job of explaining them and how they apply to our lives today。 There's no way I can tell you what parts I liked the best because this is still incredibly deep reading for me。 This read will not be the only one。 This philosophy is something that can be studied for the rest of your life and you'll still not grasp all of it。 It reminds me of the christian bible that can be studied forever， just without the unbelievable stories。 。。。more
Amie
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Really good book to give you a different perspective on how to be compassionate towards yourself and how to truly help others around you。 I’ve already read this twice already。 Definitely a book to read multiple times。 You’ll learn something new every time
Romta Toma
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“We cannot love or hate something about another person or the world unless it is already inside us first， both our pettiness & magnificence”，This was one of those books where I couldn’t stop myself from highlighting passages with every page lol， beautifully written I enjoyed it from start to finish， highly recommend。It’s also something you read over time to absorb it all in， think and reflect （she includes reflection questions at the end of each chapter） but I couldn’t help myself
Colleen
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Easy-to-digest explanation of the yamas and niyamas， guidelines to the yoga way of living。 Our group of yoga students and teacher discussed the book chapter by chapter over several months; it was a very effective way to read and assimilate。 Sometimes Adele's examples left me scratching my head， but overall a valuable book especially as the starting point for discussion。 Easy-to-digest explanation of the yamas and niyamas， guidelines to the yoga way of living。 Our group of yoga students and teacher discussed the book chapter by chapter over several months; it was a very effective way to read and assimilate。 Sometimes Adele's examples left me scratching my head， but overall a valuable book especially as the starting point for discussion。 。。。more
Jasmine Elizabeth
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Really helpful outline of this leg of the eight food path。 Very simply put but powerful in a lot of places。 I would recommend to anyone studying yoga。
Cami Kennedy
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Everyone must read this。 It is short and life changing。
Marjorie Grafton
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Easy and accessible intro to the first two limbs of yoga。 Applicable for our modern lives
Ritika Rana
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Ever since I came across yoga， I wanted to study it in depth， I came across its history and ashtanga yoga。They say， you can't starts asanas （physical postures） until you have mastered yama and niyamas （moral percepts of yoga） in your yogic practice。 I go to know about them back in 2019， got curious and read many articles， tried my best to apply them in my life， but as humans are creatures of habits， it was not easy to impose such demanding changes within days and I came back again to being my ol Ever since I came across yoga， I wanted to study it in depth， I came across its history and ashtanga yoga。They say， you can't starts asanas （physical postures） until you have mastered yama and niyamas （moral percepts of yoga） in your yogic practice。 I go to know about them back in 2019， got curious and read many articles， tried my best to apply them in my life， but as humans are creatures of habits， it was not easy to impose such demanding changes within days and I came back again to being my old self though this time aware of my constraints。 I used to remind myself these yamas and niyamas back and then。Recently came across this book on yama and niyamas by Debroaha Adele and this acted as a mirror to my practice and my life。 It made me question so many things，and made me aware of many unknown and undiscovered areas of my being。 The concepts are bit westernized and sometimes author's self analysis doesn't really quite fits the situation but cumulatively this is amazing。Would suggest this to anyone who wants to deepen their yoga's practice in deepest essence of yogic traditions。 。。。more
Margaret Weinberg
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Slowly read my way through this book and I do think it gave me so new ways of thinking。 Sometimes I felt it stuck with me more than others。 Some of the exercises were better than others！
Kara Folkerts
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This is hands down one of my favourite books。 I will be turning back to this one frequently！
Nicole Michelle
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First reading of this book for my YTT but I imagine reading & rereading for years to come。 I enjoyed learning about the tenets of Yoga practice & reflecting on the way these are present in my life now， and how I'd like to make changes。 I noticed many parallels to therapy theory & practice， that I enjoyed connecting。 I'm looking forward to sitting down and completing the journaling prompts that correspond with each Yama & Niyama。 This book gave me lots to ponder in philosophy and practice as a yo First reading of this book for my YTT but I imagine reading & rereading for years to come。 I enjoyed learning about the tenets of Yoga practice & reflecting on the way these are present in my life now， and how I'd like to make changes。 I noticed many parallels to therapy theory & practice， that I enjoyed connecting。 I'm looking forward to sitting down and completing the journaling prompts that correspond with each Yama & Niyama。 This book gave me lots to ponder in philosophy and practice as a yoga student / practitioner and a human。 Would definitely recommend！ 。。。more
Sandra Clark
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This was a core book in my 200 Hour Yoga Teacher training in 2021。 Deborah's writing is clear， accessible， and includes relatable anecdotes and stories。 It's also relatively short and is much less recondite than other yoga philosophy texts。 This was a core book in my 200 Hour Yoga Teacher training in 2021。 Deborah's writing is clear， accessible， and includes relatable anecdotes and stories。 It's also relatively short and is much less recondite than other yoga philosophy texts。 。。。more
Dana
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A life supporting， life changing experience！
Melissa Arreola
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I read this as a required text for my Yoga teacher training。 I can see myself coming back to this book quite often for its ability to weave the Yoga ethics through our daily life in such a way that calls us to not only reflect on our thoughts and actions but to engage with them， question them。 There are prompts at the end of each Yama or Niyama chapter to support the exploration of its relation to our life， through journaling or meditation。 While some of Adele's examples from personal experience I read this as a required text for my Yoga teacher training。 I can see myself coming back to this book quite often for its ability to weave the Yoga ethics through our daily life in such a way that calls us to not only reflect on our thoughts and actions but to engage with them， question them。 There are prompts at the end of each Yama or Niyama chapter to support the exploration of its relation to our life， through journaling or meditation。 While some of Adele's examples from personal experiences may not resonate with all， the books accessibility and authenticity is appreciated。 。。。more
Madeline Koengeter
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Approachable way to learn about yogic philosophy and way of living！
Lola Dova
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Beautifully written！ Beautiful explanation of the yamas and niyamas！ 2020 was when I first started my YTT Journey and this book was a beautiful addition to my studies！
Donna Werling
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Helps with my yoga practice and simplifies it。
Dana
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