'Satya’ the second of the 5 Yamas of the 8 limbs of Yoga - because yoga is about truth and not performance.
In Sanskrit ‘Sat’ means “that which exists, that which is.”
Satya, is seeing and communicating things as they actually are in that moment, not as we wish them to be…and as it follows ahimsa ( nonviolence) it asks us to be truthful without harm.
Discerning the Truth
In our asana (our physical practice) Satya asks us to approach asana practice as if we are coming to the mat for the first time, every time. Listen to body, resist moving in a habitual way and tune into what is happening in the body in that moment. This allows us to find something different every time. We might move further, we might move less deeply…it’s not the performance that matters, it’s the honesty of it that arises from moment to moment enquiry.
If we are in an asana shape without steady body, breath and mind we need to change something in body, breath or mind or all 3…recognising and responding to this is Satya and it helps us to practice this in daily life.
Conditioned Mind
Meeting the present moment truth on and off the mat can be challenging because we perceive life through a conditioned mind-set: our thoughts, beliefs, and past experiences create stories that affect everything we see, so we all experience events in different ways. We make predictions based on our stories and this can cause suffering.
What we experience as truth one day may not be the same truth we live the next. Practicing Satya requires staying open to truth in the present moment, as it reveals itself.
We are different every day, depending on how we slept, emotional life and general energy levels. By honouring this in our asana practice and life, we are honouring Satya, our own deep initiative truth.
By tuning into Satya on our mats we can build the skill of bringing the enquiry into truth into our daily lives, recognising when we are thinking, acting and speaking from a place that doesn’t reflect truth.
Tricky Asana and Satya
Every asana we practice, from standing still at the top of our mat, through binds, shoulder balances and arm balances - these are all an opportunity for Satya - to meet the present moment exactly as it is, as we are - with enquiry. An opportunity to see the truth of mind, breath and body and to meet all of that in a way that is steady....just as in life, in every interaction with each being and each happening.