New yoga students often tell me: “My doctor told me to try yoga for improved back strength…” or “my physical therapist told me to try yoga to help gain flexibility…”

I think these are valid reasons to begin a yoga class. Yoga, as we know it in the West, is a way to build strength and flexibility in the body while helping to bring a little more calm to the mind. But if we limit our understanding of yoga to just the physical body, we are missing out on the deeper jewels of the practice, and we ignore the rich history and tradition of how yoga came to be in the first place.

In my yoga teacher trainings, we have many conversations about helping students through their physical injuries or other limitations, and we spend time learning to devise ways to help students find greater ease in the body. But one thing I emphasize over and over again is that we are not physical therapists. We are not doctors. We are not therapists of any sort. Yoga teachers are not health care practitioners, and in my honest opinion, it’s not something that I think we should strive to be. The physical benefits of yoga are over emphasized. They are not the only or true purpose of practicing yoga.

To be a yoga teacher is to be a guide to help others build inner strength and a connection to a higher self. Sometimes this involves moving the physical body. Sometimes it is about breath and meditation. Sometimes it is about mantra. But the biggest and often most difficult aspect of yoga is self reflection on personal ethics and lifestyle (or daily habits). Making physical gains or even experiencing therapeutic results are lovely side benefits of a yoga practice. But these benefits are not the true purpose or intention of teaching or practicing yoga.

Honestly, it’s my own fault for letting it seem like the purpose of yoga is to only (or mainly) be about the physical benefits. As a teacher, I often overemphasize asana as the sole practice of yoga. In my recent post on how to embrace a yogic lifestyle, I write about the eight limbs of yoga. Asana is only one eighth of the practice, but it is what teachers most often focus on in our teaching! People come to a yoga class to move their body, and yes, that is important! But what if we went to yoga classes to learn more about the philosophy and the ethics behind the practice? Would yoga be as popular?

You can scroll back through my posts to read about the Yamas, the social ethics of yoga. These include concepts such as ahimsa, non-harming, and Asteya, practicing generosity. In the upcoming posts, I will write about the Niyamas—the personal ethics of yoga.

Like the Yamas, the Niyamas are a group of five ethics essential to the practice of Hatha yoga. While the Yamas are the ethics we direct towards others, the Niyamas are the ethics directed towards ourselves, often called inner observances.

The five Niyamas are listed as follows:

• Saucha—cleanliness

• Santosha—contentment

• Tapas—heat of practice

• Svadyaya—self study

• Isvara Pranidhana—connection to the divine or higher self

I feel it is the five Niyamas that are the most helpful in developing my personal character, my inner strength, and my connection to the divine. For me, they are a constant practice (remember the phrase: it’s a practice not a perfect!)

As a sadhaka, or a yogic practitioner and seeker of yoga (a seeker of union or connection with something greater than the self), I study and contemplate these ethics to investigate and inquire into how they show up in my life. To practice these ethics means I understand their meanings and I consider how I struggle or grow in these areas. When and how do I practice non-harming? When and how am I truthful? What does it mean to be “clean? When do I practice contentment or greed? How can I change my thoughts and actions to be more aligned with these ethics? Sometimes this practice involves journaling, sometimes it involves more reading and study on the subject. Sometimes practicing these ethics means having difficult conversations with family, friends, and myself.

I hope you will enjoy the upcoming posts on these Niyamas, and I look forward to hearing how you might consider applying these concepts to your yoga practice.