“Sauca santosa tapah svadhyaya
isvara-pranidhana niyamah”

— Yoga Sutra 2.32

Once you get the hang of Patanjali’s eight limbs of yoga, you can dive into each one in more detail.

The second limb is niyama, and there are five of them:

• Saucha (purity, cleanliness)

• Santosha (contentment)

• Tapas (austerity, discipline, burning enthusiasm)

• Svadhyaya (study of the self and of the texts)

• Isvara Pranidhana (surrender to a higher being, or contemplation of a higher power)

The niyamas are all about creating well-being for ourselves and others. They’re like a list of ‘to do’s’ (rather than ‘don’ts’ like the yamas) and they include things like self-discipline and spiritual observances. They’re more inward focused and subtle and the goal is to make them as relevant as you can to your daily life. Plus they provide a really cool outline for how you should treat yourself.

1.   Niyama – SAUCHA (purity)

Almost six years ago I stopped eating meat and dairy. I adopted a quasi-pescatarian diet, not only for ethical reasons but also for my health. The sense of lightness and energy that came from a complete overhaul of my diet was obvious. At the same time I also adopted a more concerted effort to meditate to help manage stress. What a game-changer. Happily I’ve never been a coffee drinker, or smoker, but I do enjoy alcohol in moderation (it’s plant-based, right?). And one of my favourite things to do is take a long, meditative bubble bath followed by a cold blast shower. These are all positive actions that I do when practicing saucha.

The one area that comes to mind which could be improved is being really mindful of the media and content I consume. Like most of us there are days where I fall down a rabbit hole on social media and mindlessly absorb imagery. Saucha is a practice that can help me catch myself and pull back from the overload that comes with the cons of being digitally connected 24/7.

2.   Niyama – SAMTOSHA (contentment)

Constant happiness is a fleeting and unattainable goal. But contentment? That’s a choice. What a radical and freeing notion! Being in the present moment, noticing judgements and criticisms, making peace with what is – I love these goals as opposed to the unrealistic idea of always being happy.

With samtosha, my biggest challenge continues to be managing my craving and striving to have more (eg financial security), be and do more (eg personal development). It’s really only in the last few months that a more sustainable and deeply felt kind of peace has started to descend on me. Sometimes only fleetingly, and it feels unfamiliar in certain circumstances.

For years I have berated myself for not being good enough, not doing enough, just…not enough. Now I can catch when those thoughts arise, take a breath, and choose to engage with that thought (never a good idea), or move on (a better choice!).

Moving on from thoughts of not being good enough are a great way to find more samtosha, or contentment.

3.   Niyama – TAPAS (austerity)

As one of the three niyamas that are the pillars of practice, tapas is all about discipline and austerity, and about heat and burning impurities.

I consider the practice of tapas in my life as a clear alignment with my simplicity journey.

In 2021 we moved house and packed up 17 years’ worth of family ‘stuff’. It was made a little easier because four years earlier we renovated the house and used the opportunity to redecorate with minimalism as the guiding principle. A fair bit of tapas was going on. This was off the back of a full Marie Kondo exercise a year earlier where I went through the whole house and purged aplenty. More tapas.

I’ve been teased for my minimalist approach to living by my kids and my brother (who asks me why am I ‘cleaning the clean’?), but WOW has it made such a difference. Living with less stuff has improved my mental clutter, reduced stress and is aesthetically quite pleasing.

4.   Niyama – SVADHYAYA (study)

Svadhyaya = self-study and the study of scripture.

I’ve been on self-study path mixed in with a taste of new spiritual practices, so those typical questions (like Who am I? Why am I here? What’s the meaning of life?) have reared up repeatedly during my yoga journey.

Is the meaning of life Monty Python’s version?

“It's nothing very special really…Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”).

Or is the meaning of life 42? (Can you tell that I’m Gen-X?)

The act of self-study or svadhyaya has and will continue to help me open my eyes, look within and trust my own inner voice.

5.   Niyama – ISHVARA PRANIDHANA (surrender)

As the third pillar of practice in the niyamas, ishvarapranidhana is to “Surrender your actions at the feet of the divine”.

Oof! This one is big.

As someone who shows a tendency to control, manage and plan ahead, it’s sometimes hard for me to get out of my own way and just relax into is-ness, let alone surrender to something or someone greater than me.

I don’t believe in any particular God and I’m not a fan of a specific religion (although Buddhism appeals), but I do have a spiritual practice that stems from the belief about the interconnectedness of all things through a life-force universal energy. It’s comforting to know that ishvarapranidhana might evolve more fully for me over time.

I like the concept of being guided by that universal energy (since I am made of that same energy), that I can cultivate a deep and trusting relationship with the universe, and offer up my actions to something larger than me. I’ll keep exploring the notion to ‘let it go’ and surrender my ego to the divine energy.