The first limb of Ashtanga Yoga is “Yama”. There are 5 Yamas in this first limb. They are a set of social ethics and the first being “Ahimsa”. Ahimsa translates to a (non) himsa (violence/injury).

A lot of yogis I have encountered in my days mostly practice this by veganism. In 2014-2015 I dedicated a year of veganism to really start to cultivate this approach into my life. I found this to be such a strange pull. In one way I was feeling very positive about the impact I was having on living animals. In another, I had constant upset in my heart for the people around me. Daily I was berated and for being vegan in Alaska! One young man told me “Look at your teeth, they are like a dogs! They are made to rip meat off the bone!” I was shocked – did this dude really just tell me I have dog teeth?! Why do others care so much about what I may or may not be eating?

I was only able to live veganism for one year before I find a way that fit for me. Is it perfect? Heck no. Far from it, I know. But I try.

My focus on the last decade has been more how I can have nonviolent, non-harming thoughts about humans. Boy do I need some work on this. It’s been 10 years and I still feel like I’m too far gone. But I can tell my heart is changing, even if slowly.

One of the biggest contributing factors to this change has been to change how I feel and talk about myself. In the physical practice of “yoga”, you know doing the actual poses, it is well known that if you can’t breathe in the pose, you can’t do the pose. You had better back out and get to a place you can breathe. This is the first lesson in Ahimsa or non-harming. We don’t want to injure ourselves while trying to heal ourselves! Through this awareness, we are able to connect to our self more deeply. We start to cultivate an amount of love, tenderness and care for ourselves that may not have been there before. Over time, this amount of compassion has the ability to change the way we feel about ourselves overall.

Going through an emotional diagram I can see I struggle with confidence. Hell, probably anyone who knows me can see that, you don’t need a damn chart. As you can imagine my inner critic works 24/7 365 baby. I need a lot of work developing that kindness to myself. When I don’t have much tenderness for myself, it is difficult to then extend it to others. I’m a work in progress.

And that is the first reason I practice Ashtanga Yoga. Not to just save the animals. Not to just be a better friend. But to love myself, truly.

Go out today and live Ahimsa. Live nonviolently. Live non-harming. Live the opposite. Live lovingly.

We got a new puppy this week. Is this mama going to be able to name her Ahimsa? Tune in next week when we finally make a decision!