What Does Yama And Niyama Mean? | What Is The Difference Between Yama And Niyama?

Hello friends, today we will discuss the first two elements or limbs of yoga according to Patanjali. The first element is Yama and the second one is Niyama. We will mainly discuss ‘What does yama and niyama mean’ and ‘what is the difference between yama and niyama?’ in this post. These two elements are discussed in the ‘Yoga Sutra’ written by patanjali. He has explained a total of 8 elements or limbs of yoga in his book and if you follow them properly, you will find ultimate pleasure and a higher level of consciousness according to Patanjali. So now let’s start this post with the meanings of Yama and Niyama.

What does yama and niyama mean?

YAMA: It is the first limb of the ashtanga according to Patanjali. It helps the people to control their body and mind for any kind of violence. Basically it supports non-violence. Yama is a very important factor in social life. If you follow Yama in your life then it will make your social life much better than ever. It’s just some ethical practices that should be followed by people for a healthy society. We will discuss ‘how you can follow Yama in your daily life’ further in this post, So stay tuned.

NIYAMA: After Yama, it is the second limb of ashtanga according to Patanjali. Niyama is the control of all five senses and To control these five senses there are also available five rules that we will discuss further in this post. If you follow niyama in your daily life then it will help you to grow your personality. It basically focuses on individuals’ overall wellness and growth. It’s also an ethical practice like Yama.

What are the five yamas and five niyamas?

There are five practices in Yama and five in Niyama. Every practice makes the person more intelligent and healthy. First we will discuss five yamas that are basically for social growth and then we will discuss five niyamas that are for personal growth:

What are the five yamas in yoga?

1. Ahimsa: it means ‘No violence of any type’. Any individual should not harm any person, animal, bird or living thing neither emotionally nor physical. Any individual should not carry any type of hate, anger or any negative feeling for anyone else. This is ahimsa.
2. Satya: It means ‘Always tell the truth’. Any individual should not lie in any condition.
3. Asteya: It means ‘Never stealing’. Any individual should not steal anything from anybody and should not force anyone to steal. It’s called astey.
4. Brahmacharya: It means ‘No relation with the opposite gender’. Any individual should not involve in any type of activity that promotes lust.
5. Aparigraha: It means ‘Living life in less’. We should live our life with basic needs only. We should control our desires.

What are the five niyamas in yoga?

1. Saucha: it means ‘Purification’. In yoga the cleaness of inner and outer organs of the body is a very important task that must be done by every person.
2. Santosha: It means ‘Satisfaction’. We should always be satisfied with the things that we have. We should always be satisfied in any situation of life.
3. Tapa: It means ‘Never give up’. We should always try to achieve our goals in any adverse situation. No matter how hard your path is, you should always keep hope in every condition and take ahead your steps.
4. Swadhyaya: it is the study of two things, 1st is the study of Vedas, bhagwat geeta and old holy scriptures and 2nd is the study of self awakening. Second study is about himself/herself like who I am, why I came on this earth, what is the purpose of my life etc.
5. Ishvara Pranidhana: it means ‘Surrender to the god’. Every achievement, every success that you have got is given by god. Everything you have is of God. This is the total surrender to the god. It’s called Ishvara Pranidhana.

what is the difference between yama and niyama?

When we delve deeper in Yama and Niyama we find a major difference between them. However they both have some ethical principles but Yama mostly focuses on the external well being. It means when you follow Yama your life will get better with the outer world and your relations with others will get better. But the Niyama is kind of opposite to the Yama. Niyama mostly focuses on inner well-being. It means when you follow niyama you will get personal growth. You will connect with yourself and you will feel your spiritual awakening. So I hope you got the difference between Yama and Niyama. Now we will know ‘How we can apply yamas and niyamas in our life?’

How we can apply yamas and niyamas in our life?

In our daily life, by following the 10 disciplines of Yama and Niyama we can apply them into our life. Firstly we should start with 5 Yamas in which first is Ahimsa. After that we should follow the other four ethical practices Satya, Asteya, Brahmacharya, Aparigraha so that we get used to it. We can practise these Yamas in our social life. While interacting with others we can follow these five Yama.
After successfully following five Yamas we should start following Yamas daily. We can do this with five disciplines that have been described in Niyamas. Saucha, Santosha, Tapa, Swadhyaya, Ishvara Pranidhana. These are the five Niyamas, by following them you can apply niyama in your day to day life. So I hope you got the idea ‘How we can apply Yamas and Niyamas in our life’.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we have discussed the two most important pillars of yoga according to Patanjali. We have discussed What does yama and niyama mean and what are their ten ethical practices. We have discussed what is the difference between them and how we can apply them in our daily life. Hope you understood all about Yama and Niyama in this post. You can also read our other posts on yoga. Share this post with your family and friends who need this post. Thank you for reading.