8 Actionable Ways to Practice Ahimsa in Everyday Life and in Yoga - Fitsri

Your food is either plant-based or animal-based. An unfortunate truth of life is that for you to live, another living being must die. You cannot alter it, but you can ensure that your diet motivates the most humane process available.

In the pursuit of caring for others, you must not starve yourself of caring. An individual fighting a battle in his head will lose the ones outside. Following the path of Ahimsa will put you up against a lot of challenges, to successfully overcome such challenges, you will need a level head.

Make it a practice to regularly confront your fears, inabilities, shortcomings, insecurities, and failures. Acknowledge and accept them but do not judge yourself too harshly; forgive what can be forgiven and forget what can be forgotten.

Your passion is your deep burning desire for something. And when you feel that burning desire to help someone in difficulty, it becomes compassion. And compassion is a must when practicing ahimsa. Secondly, you will have to practice listening; truly listening. We are always lost in our head, always revisiting the thoughts on our head, even when someone else is sharing their problem. Almost all passionate people who are good listeners, end up being compassionate people.

Steady deep breathing, calms your nerves, eases your blood blow, and increases the level of oxygen in your body.

Steady deep breathing before each Asana, will make your muscles more supple, and prepare your mind to deal with the turmoil(s) of the pose. Over time this practice will become an integral aspect of your personality. And in this way, you can incorporate Ahimsa while doing any yoga practice. Even off the mat, you will easily find yourself taking deep steady breaths and keeping yourself away from inflicting harm.

Meditation is already a separate limb of yoga. However practicing it before and after your yoga session, will help you train with ahimsa. Meditation is when you turn into an ultimate observer of  the universe, and all you do is absorb all that the universe has to offer.

While meditating, your mind will be flooded with thoughts. You will constantly struggle to put a stop to this flow of thoughts. With sufficient practice, you will eventually succeed. And when you do you will learn to put a stop to all types of thoughts, including the harmful ones.

The hand and limb movements, the arches, the bends, the twists, and so on, are all physical movements of yoga. At a beginner level, these movements are just abruptly formed and practiced. However, they are meant to be in smooth and constant flow.

The flowing movement of the asanas are wondrously beneficial in calming your mind and cleansing it of all agitating thoughts. The breathing combined with the flow is just the perfect tool for ahimsa.

What you must remember is that yoga is not a competition. You are on the mat to train, thus the practicing part is important; the success is not. Be patient with the final pose and let it come in time. The majority of himsa in yoga is from the frustration of the inability to perform a pose. So let go of the stubbornness that pushes you to get the final pose at a single attempt.

“Ahimsa is not mere negative non-injury. It is positive, cosmic love. It is the development of a mental attitude in which hatred is replaced by love. Ahimsa is true sacrifice. Ahimsa is forgiveness. Ahimsa is Sakti (power). Ahimsa is true strength.”

-Sivananda