Satya: Truthfulness.

Satya is one of the yamas (restraints) of the eight limbs of Ashtanga yoga. It loosely translates to “truthfulness” or “being truthful”.

“Speak the truth that is sweet; do not speak a truth that is not sweet. Do not lie to please.” ~ from “Astanga Yoga Anusthana” by R. Sharath Jois.

But is telling the truth always an easy thing? We all know that no is the answer. We lie for all kinds of reasons: to not cause drama, for other people, out of shame, out of fear … the list goes on. But we also know that truthfulness is very freeing. It feels good to be able to be honest. It feels right and just, so long as it is not hurtful to others and does not come back to bite us later.

Oftentimes, life is so very confusing we are not even honest with ourselves. Or worse, we let the untruths that other people tell us seep in and become our truth. People tell us we’re not good enough, we’re too this or not enough that and we don’t know so we believe them. It’s a big ol’ puddle of murk out here in the real world, off the yoga mat.

So how do we get to the bottom of everything – to have the courage to be truthful, both to others and ourselves?

And how do we see reality and not simply what we wish to see?

Truth is tricky, but with a clear mind, we can get better at discerning truth from fiction.

Think of it this way: a mirror should provide a clear reflection. But what if the mirror is cloudy? The mind, like a mirror, can get fogged up with too many thoughts and clouded with untrue things we tell ourselves. So how do we wipe it clean and get a clear reflection?

Two words: breath and focus. And what does breath + focus =???

Meditation!!

You may, like me, have a negative reaction to the idea of “meditation”. For me, it used to be a blatant eye roll, followed by a muffled cough. “Eh-hem. Bullshit”.

But what I understood to be “meditation” was all wrong. I thought it was trying to sit still and not think of anything. But not only would sitting still on the floor thinking of nothing be BORING, it’s impossible. Your brain can not think of nothing; it must think something or else you would be brain-dead.

The good news is, you don’t have to be sitting still to meditate. “What??!!”, I hear people protesting already. But it’s true – for instance, my physical yoga practice is a type of meditation in itself and there’s no way to do it without movement. But a person can also meditate while walking through the woods or playing an instrument, designing a building, whittling wood, or doing anything that lends focus on one particular thing or goal. See, you may be meditating and not even realize it! What makes it “meditation” is that you are intentionally focusing on one thing while leaving all the other cares of the day behind – you leave behind bombarding thoughts like what other people think, what you want for breakfast, whether you remembered to feed the cat, etc.

But if you are tired and want an easy way to clear your mind, of course, you CAN sit still and meditate. (Sitting crossed-legged on the floor is not required.) You can sit up straight in a chair. But you would also have to focus on something, and usually what that something is, is breath. And breathing – correct breathing – is a great first step toward clearing the mind of clutter, calming nerves, and even regulating blood pressure.

So in this type of meditation, your mind is focused on breathing, and controlled breathing is a great tool to help control the mind. Everyone already knows this – how many times have you heard someone say, “Take a deep breath” when you are overly excited or need to calm down? What most people don’t know is that practicing correct and controlled breathing regularly has a huge positive impact on our emotional, mental, and physical selves.

And the great thing about using the breath to meditate is that anyone can do it, so long as they can breathe. And I hope you are all breathing! If so, leave a comment and share your thoughts on Satya, breathing, and meditation 🙂 🧘🏽‍♀️🧘🏽🧘🏾‍♂️🧘🏽‍♀️🧘

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This is an interesting video by a breathing expert, Max Strom, who travels the world to teach breathing patterns for personal transformation. He also wrote a book on breathing! This video offers explanations as to why breathing is so important and gives brief exercises on correct breathing.