Ahimsa: Non-Violence

In Yoga, there are guidelines, called yamas, for creating a peaceful life within our own beings. The first of the five yamas is Ahimsa, which means non-violence. The Commandment, "Thou shalt not kill" is a great example of non-violence. However, focusing on that isn't really applicable to my life. I don't go around wanting to kill people, and I don't even go around wanting to kill creatures such as bugs (mosquitos are still a grey area for me).

The most prominent example of violence in my own life is my thoughts and the narrator who speaks in the background of my mind. If I'm not careful, that incessant mental chatter will draw all my attention and drain my energy. Those words come from unpleasant memories in my past and the cycle of anxiety in my present.

Words use to be my weapon of choice, and I could easily use peoples' mistakes and faults against them. I was happy to see them cry, because I knew that I had actually got to them. I don't like doing that, though. As I've learned gentleness, I would prefer to be compassionate towards peoples' growing processes, and not be offended when they don't match my expectation. Also, all that thinking not only hurts the other person, but it hurts me, too. I know that somewhere in the Bible, Jesus said not to pre-think our conversations or arguments, and, as I've aged, I've tried doing just that.

With the outlets of my asana practice, the energy I would have put into angry tirades gets released from my body, and when I settle into a meditation practice, I don't need to focus on words or distracting events. I can just focus on watching the thoughts go right past me. Though I didn't know there was such a word as ahimsa, I have been practicing this for 14 years. The thoughts that I allow to happen in my own head cause me way more stress than any other one person could. I can always walk away from people, but my thoughts stay with me continually.