I recently had the following piece submitted for one of our courses. I was so moved, I am compelled to share:
Journal reflection for CEC IV Yoga Philosophy, Lifestyle, and Ethics:
I am reflecting on the topics of Yamas, specifically Asteya. According to the workbook it means "non-stealing, not taking what does not belong to us and what is not being freely offered. Not taking advantage of people or things."
It is easy to think in literal terms and say to yourself, "I don't steal! This is so easy to follow" but there are many ways Asteya can impact your life and yoga teaching practice. We so often criticize others for their quirks or eccentricities. In this way we are allowing our gossip and criticism to steal the right of that person to exist in their one uniqueness.
We need to value other viewpoints and have the ability to critically assess and hold space for other viewpoints. Another aspect of this Yama, is not taking advantage of others generosity. We should also think about it as not mismanaging time and or breaking trust. Within yoga, that may mean beginning and ending class on time, honoring the time of the participants.
In our relationships with ourselves, if we take away or hide our own strength and power, we limit our ability to be our authentic self. How many times do we apologize for ourselves? (women in particular) We really should be saying excuse me not I'm sorry.
We need to rethink the dis-empowering language we use against ourselves that steals away our true, strong, beautiful self.