Do No Harm

The 1st Yama: Ahimsa

Ahimsa (pronounced uh-HIM-sah) translates to “nonviolence”. On the surface, the message here seems obvious: don’t be violent! However, the deeper essence of ahimsa is “do no harm”, which is a lot more nuanced in practice.

Practicing ahimsa means considering the impact of every action, word, and thought. At its extreme, ahimsa could mean shifting to a vegetarian diet, committing to an eco-conscious lifestyle, philosophical and political passivism, etc. At the very least, practicing ahimsa requires examining your impact on everything else and making conscious choices about how you engage with the world and yourself.

In interacting with others, ahimsa is considering your words carefully before speaking, being aware of your emotional state and managing it, and, obviously, avoiding physical and verbal aggression with others. It also means checking unspoken thoughts and judgments: the hurtful things you may think about others but never actually speak, regardless of whether it’s someone you love or simply the driver in front of you! Choosing to practice ahimsa is a choice to become aware of any aggression you may carry within and actively shift it.

Ahimsa also applies to how your actions and thoughts impact yourself: becoming mindful of self-harming habits, behaviors, and inner dialogue and choosing to shift behaviors and thoughts that are “violent” or hurtful to one’s own body and mind. Ahimsa is recognizing the ways in which you harm yourself by not supporting yourself emotionally, physically, or mentally - asking for what you need, feeding your body nutritious food, getting enough sleep, etc. It means choosing self-protection as a practice of self-respect as opposed to a knee-jerk defense mechanism. It means choosing to speak to yourself with kindness and understanding instead of reproach or disgust.

Ultimately, ahimsa is a mindfulness practice that requires broadening one’s perspective and stepping outside of ego - it’s the act of treating everything and everyone, including yourself, as important and valuable, inherently deserving of respect and kindness.

On the Mat

You practice ahimsa on the mat every time you:

• communicate your energetic state and what you need before practice even begins

• observe any negative or degrading self-talk and choose to shift your inner dialogue

• protect your knees with a blanket when kneeling or use a strap to reach your foot instead of straining your back or shoulders

• respect your body’s limitations, tightnesses, and current needs by modifying poses instead of pushing yourself in ways that could be physically harmful

• give your emotions an outlet with breath when they arise instead of holding your breath, clenching your jaw, or physically bracing around the reaction

• ask for help or advice when a pose causes you pain

Living Your Practice

As “awareness in action”, the practice of ahimsa can be applied to almost every aspect of our lives.

Interactions with Others

• Think before you speak and find words to express yourself or your needs with respect and kindness

• Learn about microaggressions; be mindful of conscious and unconscious beliefs you may harbor and ways you may be expressing them that are unintentionally hurtful

• Become aware of the aspects of your ego that are naturally confrontational, contrary, or accusatory, and search for ways to reframe and shift your internal reactions

• Consider how your emotional state and attitude may impact those around you and do the inner work (the yamas and niyamas!) to shift your own state

• Include anonymous interactions in your practice of ahimsa: online, driving, customer services reps on the phone, etc.

Interactions with the World Around You

• Examine the broader impact of your lifestyle (how you use natural and manufactured resources) and establish ways to reduce harm to the environment

• Consider the lives of other beings as valuable and seek ways to interact with “unwanted” species that do as little harm as possible: catch and release spiders instead of killing them, use natural predators and select plantings to repel insects instead of pesticides, etc.

• Examine your dietary choices; source your food from humane, sustainable, environmentally-friendly farms; buy local and in-season produce

Interactions with Yourself

• Become aware of negative self-talk (like when you break something and automatically think “oh, i’m so stupid”) and make conscious choices to counter those thoughts (“I’m not stupid, it was simply an accident” or “actually, I’m just moving too fast and need to slow down”)

• Consider how and what you eat and make conscious changes in how you interact with food. For example, if you consistently overeat to the point where your stomach hurts, choose smaller portions, put the fork down between bites, chew slower, give your body time to recognize when it’s full and then choose to stop. Or if you’re so busy you forget to eat all day, set a timer to remind yourself to eat, have snacks handy, or make yourself take a lunch break.

• Recognize when situations and relationships in your life are harmful to you and take steps to change or leave them. This can apply to anything from not getting enough sleep each night to being in an abusive relationship - practicing ahimsa means becoming aware of the harm being done to you and choosing actions that reduce that harm

• Be aware of any unconscious “no pain, no gain” mentality you may operate from: “powering through” pain during yoga practice or other exercise; requesting a massage therapist dig deeper because it “hurts so good”; or even in how you interact with your own body - digging into sore muscles instead of gently rubbing them, for example, or refusing to rest when you need it

If you have a “yoga journal”, I encourage you to write about how you already practice ahimsa - both on and off the mat - and ways you could incorporate this practice more in your life.

Feel free to share your thoughts or questions about ahimsa in the comments!