Ahimsa — non-violence — is the first principle of classical yoga. It stands at the beginning of the Yoga Sutras, before posture, before breath, before anything. It establishes the atmosphere in which all practice unfolds.
The yamas and niyamas are more than principles. They are a guide to a way of being. The world is loud with conflict, and it can be hard to know what to do with that. When we come to the mat, something shifts. Reactivity settles. The nervous system finds its ground. We become, even briefly, steadier — more capable of discernment, more able to open our hearts to choose our response from a place of peace rather than reactivity from fear and anger.
Yoga, when integrated, is the cultivation of inner order, the yoking of body, mind, and spiritual awareness. Ahimsa sets the tone. I believe that the more of us who practice this — who tend to that inner steadiness — the more it extends outward, into our families, communities, and the world beyond.
"Before peace between the nations, we have to find peace inside that small nation which is our own being."
B.K.S. Iyengar
With care,
Tiffany Bergin, C-IAYT, CIYT
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