Ahimsa - Inside and Out

I have always valued the strong ethical and moral code instilled in me by my parents growing up.  I am grateful that the importance of kindness, treating others with respect, and the “golden rule” were concepts that were lived out in the communities I was a part of.  I feel this has been a cornerstone of my foundation, including what has allowed me to find my way to a career centered on helping others. 

I sought out Yoga Teacher Training when I was at a point in my life where I needed to get to know myself better, and possibly for the first time in a really long time.  When the class started, I had only been practicing yoga seriously for a couple of years, and within these couple of years there had been stops and starts.  Although I knew that yoga was helping me and was meaningful to me, I was a total tourist when it came to yogic wisdom.  Eight limbs of what?  Yama, Niyama, and all those other words I was terrified to mispronounce were new to me.

One of these new words, Ahimsa, really knocked me off of my feet.  I had a true Oprah “ah ha moment.”  Ahimsa (one of the Yamas) was defined as “non-harming” or “non-violence” in to the texts we explored during class.  Treating others the way you would like to be treated, or the “golden rule,” is something that I think we all have encountered at some point, so it made sense immediately.  The idea of not harming others or the world around us naturally made sense to me.  But the part that really struck me was the idea that Ahimsa applies to yourself as well.  As practiced as I tried to be throughout my life in not harming others, and living in kindness, I could actually be quite brutal on myself.  I poured all my Ahimsa energy into what was outside of me, but never stopped to think and consider offering myself some as well.  This realization pushed me in a direction of redefining how I cared for and showed up for myself.  It was the beginning of self compassion, something I had not realized I had neglected for so long.

The invitation for today is to consider the ways in which you practice Ahimsa in your way.  How balanced are you in spreading non-violence both outside and within your own self?