Aparigraha— Non-Grasping/ Letting Go

Yoga Philosophy Week 4 Aparigraha/Letting Go

Yoga Philosophy

Limb or Principle 1, part 5 of 10 Yama/Niyama (Ethics for Life)

 ‘Let your concern be with action alone, and never with the fruits of action. Do not let the results of action be your motive, and do not be attached to inaction’. Krishna

When one is steadfast in non-possessiveness or non-grasping(aparigraha), there arises knowledge of the why and what of life. 

 Yoga  Sutra 2.39 

We are doing the Yama part of Yoga Philosophy somewhat out of the traditional order. Three of the 5 Yamas start with the letter “a” which means “the opposite of.” So it is interesting to explore all the yamas that start with the concept of doing the opposite of.

Here is the traditional order:

1. Ahiṃsa — non-harming.  The opposite of harming, in other words loving kindness 
2. Satya — truthfulness
3. Asteya — non-stealing.  The opposite of stealing, in other words giving 
4. Brahmacharya — moderation
5. Aparigraha. - non-grasping.  The opposite of grasping, in otherwords, letting go.  

The Yamas actually have an interesting pattern: do the -opposite of this ... practice this... do the opposite of this... practice this... do the opposite of this... 

What is a Yama?  In the 8 limbs of Yoga there are three Yamas.  The Yamas, often translated as Ethics and the Niyamas, often translated as morals, are both part of the first limb. Then there is Pranayama, often translated as breath control which is the second limb.  Asana/poses are the third limb, and we will cover the rest in the future which lead to meditation and bliss. 

Iyengar in his book Light on Life defines pranayama as Breath Extension and that Yama means extension. Our Yamas then are ways to extend ourselves into the world and into relation with others as well as our relation with ourself.  We will get into this concept more when we cover Niyama and Pranayama.

Back to Aparigraha.  "Pari" means "All sides" and "graha" means "grasping."  So aparigraha often gets translated as non-grasping.  In other words, "letting go."  

There are many ways we can let go in our practice and in our life.  

Asana 

In our physical practice, we can let go into our poses instead of trying to push into poses.  We can let go of some ideal of what we think is the perfect version of a pose.  We can let go of even our attempts to relax or quiet the mind, letting go the judgements that come up when we do or do not accomplish what we think we are "supposed" to be doing.  Often in Yoga this is called non-attachment.  It doesn't mean we don't care.  It means we are not attached to the outcome. 

We can practice letting go in our breath practice and meditation practice as well.

Pranayama 

In Breath Practice, we literally let go of the breath as we exhale.  Often this release can feel metaphorical for other things in life we seek to let go. 

Meditation

In Meditation Practice, we may seek to let go of thoughts.  However, that can turn into grasping.  I find it helpful to be an observer of the mind and just notice when the mind becomes very active, jumping to the future or dwelling in the past and bring it, gently, back to the present by paying attention to my breath or a mantra. 

Daily Life

Daily life, we can let go of our attachments.  For example, we can clean out the house of things we no longer need. Perhaps, not acquiring things we do not need in the first place.  This is a good time of the year to consider what we really need.   A wonderful resource for this is The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing. And my other favorite, Declutter at the Speed of Life. I combine these two techniques for myself and as part of the Wellness Coaching I offer. contact me kim@lifefullyoga.com for more info.

We have other types of attachments too.  Attachments to our opinions, our concepts of who we are, attachments to routine.  There are so many things we hold on to or cling to. 

What are you holding on to that you'd like to let go?  

Here is a nice article with some tips for letting go from Yoga International:

 7 Ways to Practice Aparigraha

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Yoga Philiosphy Asteya — Non-Stealing/ Giving

Yoga Philosophy Week 3 Asteya/Non-Stealing

What is Yoga Philosophy?

Part 3 of 10 Yama/Niyama (Ethics for Life)

Asteya/Non-Stealing or a Sense of Abundance

Yoga Philosophy/ Lifestyle

Quotes:

"When we feel connected to the vastness of life and are confident of life's abundance, we are naturally generous and able to practice the third yama, non-stealing (asteya)."

Donna Farhi

" When the opposite of stealing (asteya) is established, all jewels, or treasures present themselves, or are available to the Yogi.

(yoga sutra 2.37)

"Asteya reminds us that greediness that goes beyond the resources that we actually need, robs us of our ability to be content and feel abundance"

Judith Hansen Lasiter

Teaching
Yoga Ethics/ Yama and Niyamas

Just like Ahimsa (non-harming/ the opposite of harming), the "a" in front of the word indicates the "opposite of."  Asteya, while often translated as "not stealing," actually means the opposite of stealing.  That could be giving, gratitude, generosity, being open to the jewels or treasures in front of us, contentment,

a sense of abundance.

Often, Asteya is translated as abundance.  This is a good translation, however, the step beyond that is (as the opposite of stealing) giving.

Like our first quote asserts a sense of abundance leads to generosity.  

When we feel we have enough, or even recognize that often we have more than enough, we do tend to feel we can give more, we may give away some of our things or make donations.

What about when we feel we are enough?  How might this show up in our life? In our yoga practice?  What if we practiced with the belief that we are flexible enough, strong enough, balanced enough, right now?  What mental scripts would play in our head when we do a pose or try to meditate or relax?  

It's okay if we want to improve and grow but what about how we treat ourselves as we are right now? What about gratitude for our Now?

Asteya is also often translated as non-coveting.  When thinking of yoga physical practices it means to not covet what other people can do on the mat beside you or in the yoga magazines or on Instagram, etc. but beyond, that, again, it means feeling and knowing that we have abundance in our own practice, we have enough, we are enough.

When it comes to life, it means the same thing: to not covet other people or things, but also beyond that it means feeling and knowing we have abundance in our life, we have enough, we are enough. That is not to say there aren't times when we are in need.

A sense of gratitude, abundance, and the ability to be giving doesn't mean we might not need basic human needs like food, water, and shelter. It means knowing that it is not what objects we possess; its not how our body feels; it is not the love we get; it is not whatever we feel we must possess or have that makes us whole, it is what we believe about ourselves that does.

There is treasure right in front of us. Asteya helps us see it and know we do not have to seek or take it from some place else. And more than that, Asetya helps us feel abundant in our life and helps us be more giving in many ways from being generous with gifts and charity, to feeling more free to give love, to give others a break or forgiveness, to feeling more peace and contentment.

Perhaps, we can be generous with ourselves and in turn more generous with others.