Practicing the Yama of Satya, or Truthfulness

Me, no makeup, old T-shirt, wind in my hair, being authentically me. Featuring Grace in background!

A couple of weeks ago, I posted an intro about the Yamas and Niyamas, and how I’d been focusing on the first of the Yamas, Ahimsa, for the previous two weeks. The next Yama that I’ve chosen to focus on was Satya, or truthfulness. Now, if you know me at all, you know that I’m someone who’s honest almost to a fault. I loathe any type of dishonesty, either overt or otherwise. So truthfulness sounds pretty simple. Just don’t lie or be dishonest in any capacity. But it extends further than that. To me, satya, or truthfulness, is about being fully authentic and speaking your truth. 

In yoga, Satya can show up in numerous ways. For instance, as a student, not opting in for assists if you don’t want to be touched. I think people sometimes feel obligated, like they should want to be assisted, or they worry they’ll offend the teacher by not opting in. But you have every right to decide when you want to be touched and by whom, and to be honest about it.  Satya could also show up as being honest that particular pose or movement doesn’t feel right in your body, instead of just doing something that’s painful because you’re worried about upsetting the teacher. It could be simply practicing yoga (on and off the mat) in the way that feels authentic to you, instead of how you think a yogi “should practice” (in quotes, because there’s no right type of yogi, as I’ve written about before).

As an instructor, satya can be staying authentic to who you are when you teach classes and grow your business. I’ve talked before about how I often don’t fall into the typical “yogi” image, how what I want to do as a yoga teacher, and the type of work I want to be involved in may not be as traditional. And part of satya for me, part of speaking my truth, of being honest, is teaching from this place of my own unique being and perspective. Instead of trying to conform to what I think a particular studio/place wants, or how people seem to think a yoga teacher “should” be, I work to find places to teach and ways of teaching that mesh with who I am, and grow my yoga business in a way that fits my authentic self. 

Off the mat, satya, and the opportunity to practice it, shows up in all sorts of ways. It can be especially tricky for those of us who tend to want to please others and make everyone happy (I say this, being one of those types of people). It often feels easier to just “go with the flow”, to not voice your (differing) opinion because you don’t want to cause discord. Or, putting on my chronic illness advocate hat for a moment, not wanting to feel like we’re burdening others with our health issues. It can become almost automatic to say, “I’m OK.” or “I’m just tired, I’ll be fine” because we don’t want to feel like we’re complaining or dragging others down, instead of being truthful about what we’re experiencing and how we’re feeling (aka Satya). Satya can look like setting boundaries. It can look like saying no to plans that you don’t want to make, for whatever reason, instead of pushing yourself to go along because you don’t want to offend someone. Satya can look like respectful disagreement. It can look like being your weird, quirky self, instead of trying to conform to the “norm”.  There are countless other examples - these are simply the examples I find most prevalent in my own day to day life.

I’ve been working on Satya for the past week or so, and going to continue to focus on it (more than usual) for another week. It’s been both frightening (because I tend to want to make everyone happy) and liberating. Most of all, it’s made me feel like I’m really coming back to myself. Like I’m feeling more comfortable in my own skin each day. I’d love to hear the ways in which others find themselves practicing satya, either intentionally, or as part of a larger focus on self-growth and self-discovery.