The Spiritual Side of Yoga – Ethics, Good Habits and Positive Vibes

Some people define yoga as a kind of calisthenics, combining stretching with coordination and strengthening. Some people define yoga as a way to soothe stress and/or a hyper-active nervous system. And, although a yoga practice does embrace both of those qualities, there is an important side to yoga not frequently referenced during the typical movement class – the spiritual side.

Yoga Is Not a Religion

Yoga is not a religion, and as such, the spiritual side of the practice has nothing to do with prayer, or acknowledgement of a deity or the like. Instead, yoga’s spirituality is embraced through a set of 5 ethical guidelines (non-violence, honesty, non-stealing, chastity and non-hoarding) and 5 beneficial habits to cultivate (cleanliness, contentment, discipline, self-study and dedication to transcending our ego), and they are traditionally the first steps to a complete yoga practice, just before the step of practicing physical postures. For this article, rather than go into detail about the ethical guidelines and beneficial habits (because I’m sure most of them you already follow), let’s go deeper into the ancient texts. Let’s learn from them how to develop the necessary discipline to follow any ethic/habit we would like to embrace more fully.

Everyone who tries to live ethically inevitably bumps into some sort of ethical dilemma at some point, small or large. We learn from an early age as we build relationships with our siblings and friends that living ethically is not always that easy. We experience all sorts of negative emotions in a day which cause us to behave unethically: jealousy, anger, fear, sadness, etc. When someone hits you on the playground, what do you do? Can and should you refrain from violence? When someone dominates the swing set so that you don’t get a turn, what do you do? Can and should you steal something from them in retribution? How about when someone is being teased mercilessly by your classmates, or you get blamed for breaking the vase you never touched. What do you do? What should you do?

Patañjali’s Yoga Sutras

Many yoga teachers and scholars turn to the Yoga Sutras of Patañjali* to deepen their knowledge of yoga techniques and philosophy. Lucky for us, immediately after Patañjali outlines the 5 ethics and 5 beneficial habits, he also describes a technique we can use to diminish and possibly even eliminate the negative feelings which fuel most unethical behavior:

Sure, this sounds like good advice. But, the next time you’re in the throws of an argument with your partner, try simply swapping the anger for happiness. Sounds ridiculously impossible, doesn’t it?

This is when lessons we learn from our asana practice (yoga postures) can be used to teach us about our mind. Just as our physical muscles need training in order to be healthy and come to our aid when we need them, so do our “emotional muscles.” The stronger the negative emotion we wish to avoid, the more we need to practice its emotional antidote. The more you practice, the more accessible that particular emotion will be at the times when you need it the most.

Antidotes to Negative Emotions

In order to mellow out most of our negative emotions, try practicing and strengthening the following antidotal emotions:

Laughter
Curiosity
Gratitude

Here’s the beautiful thing about practicing laughter – it’s not necessary to have something amusing to laugh at. Simply the act of laughing, even when you don’t feel like it, sends messages through our nervous system which convince our minds to be happy. According to the Laughter Yoga International website, “… the body cannot differentiate between intentional/voluntary and real laughter. One gets the same physiological and psychological benefits.” Imagine how your outlook on life could change if you practiced laughing, either with or without a reason for it, for 5 minutes every day.
(Looking for more information on laughter? Here’s somewhere you can start.)

We all are born with an abundant amount of curiosity. Curiosity is what makes us explore and learn our environment. As we grow into adulthood, however, many of us lose our sense of wonder when we start to navigate the working world and learn that expertise, not exploration, earns us an income. Curiosity not only helps us become more empathetic, but it also helps us invent creative solutions to tough situations. Imagine how your outlook on life could change if you swapped 5 minutes of doom scrolling for 5 minutes of researching something you know nothing about. Can’t think of a topic? Visit dictionary.com and look for their “word of the day” to get you started.
(Looking for more information on curiosity? Here’s somewhere you can start.)

Once we arrive at adulthood, and we’ve already determined most of our likes and dislikes, it’s easy to fall into the trap of only seeking out our preferred activities and items, and becoming disappointed when we don’t experience them. Practicing gratitude can help avoid a downslide into chronic pessimism. Imagine how your outlook on life could change if you spent 5 minutes each day journaling about all the things, activities and people you are grateful for.
(Looking for more information on gratitude? Here’s somewhere you can start.)

Use Laughter, Curiosity and Gratitude to Explore Your Spirituality

So often, students shy away from the spiritual side of a yoga practice I think because they aren’t interested in following a stereotypical image they have of what a spiritual yogi looks and acts like. It should be good news to hear that one doesn’t have to follow that stereotype in order to embrace yoga’s spiritual practices, and maximize the benefits from ancient yoga techniques. Whichever spiritual path we’re already on, however it is currently being expressed and explored, the yoga technique of commitment to ethics and maintaining beneficial habits will only reinforce our efforts on that path. And, the additional yoga technique of cultivating and strengthening positive attitudes can even help us progress to success!

Photo by Deb Dowd on Unsplash