How to Practice the Yamas – Applied Yoga Philosophy

The Yamas are the first limb of the 8 limbs of yoga, described in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. They are five ethical guidelines that help you live with more awareness, improve your relationships, and reduce inner conflict. In simple terms, the Yamas teach you how to act, think, and respond in a way that creates harmony within yourself and with others. In my early years of teaching, I noticed that students could hold difficult poses but still struggled with frustration, comparison, or self-criticism. This is exactly where the Yamas become practical as something you apply in real moments.

Although these teachings come from ancient yoga philosophy, I’ve consistently seen in classes that the challenges they address, like reactivity, comparison, and overconsumption, are even more visible in modern life. When practiced regularly, the Yamas help you become more aware of your thoughts, habits, and reactions, so you can make healthier and more conscious choices.

What Does “Yamas” Mean?

Yamas means “restraint” or “reigning in” in Sanskrit. In yoga philosophy, the Yamas are those things we should refrain from doing. When you use the Yamas to improve your self-control (restraint) and purify your intentions, your character is improved.

The eight limbs of yoga are as follows:

• Yamas (ethical restraints)
• Niyamas (personal practices)
• Asana (physical postures)
• Pranayama (breathing techniques)
• Pratyahara (withdrawal of senses)
• Dharana (concentration)
• Dhyana (meditation)
• Samadhi (deep absorption)

The Yamas create the foundation in your practice. Without them, it becomes difficult to progress into deeper aspects like meditation.

The word “Yama” means “restraint” or “control.” In yoga, the Yamas are ethical guidelines that help you manage your actions, thoughts, and behavior toward others and yourself. In daily life, this means learning to pause before reacting and choosing actions that create less harm and more balance.

The Yamas should not be confused with the Niyamas, which are the second limb in the path to enlightenment. The Niyamas are recommended habits or daily actions for holistic healthy living. Together, the Yamas and Niyamas of yoga can be defined as moral codes or ethical principles that guide us in our journey to spiritual awareness.

What are the 5 Yamas in Yoga?

The five Yamas are Ahimsa (non-violence), Satya (truthfulness), Asteya (non-stealing), Brahmacharya (moderation), and Aparigraha (non-possessiveness).

Different classical and later yoga texts present variations in how ethical guidelines are described. For example, while the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali outline five Yamas, other traditions and texts expand or reinterpret these principles.

In traditional yoga texts like the Yoga Sutras, five Yamas are clearly described and widely taught today. Over time, I’ve also come across additional ethical guidelines in different teachings and lineages. While these variations exist, most modern yoga practices focus on these five core Yamas.

How to Perform the 5 Yamas of Yoga

The Yamas are not rules to follow perfectly. They are practices you apply in daily life through your thoughts, words, and actions. A practical way to begin is to focus on one Yama at a time and observe it in a specific situation, for example, noticing your reaction when someone disagrees with you or when you feel the urge to compare yourself in class. In yoga classes, this can be as simple as practicing Ahimsa by not pushing your body into pain or Aparigraha by letting go of comparison with others.

You can approach the Yamas by reading through and contemplating how each of them relates to your life. When it comes to making changes and applying the Yamas, you will have more success if you choose one change to make at a time. Make this change a part of your life, so it feels normal and natural before you begin to make another change. Although it takes time to make changes this way, it will be more effective.

Yama 1: Non-Violence (Ahimsa)

Ahimsa means non-violence or non-harming in your thoughts, words, and actions. It includes how you treat others but also how you treat yourself.

The Sanskrit ‘himsa’ means violence or harm, and ‘ahimsa’ means its opposite: non-violence. This is a simple concept with surprising depth. It encourages avoiding violence to ourselves as well as to other beings, whether human or not.

The harm or violence Ahimsa refers to is not limited to physical violence. It also includes mental and emotional harm. Many students I’ve worked with are kind to others but very harsh on themselves, for example, criticizing their body during practice or feeling frustrated when they cannot keep up. For them, Ahimsa often begins with changing that internal dialogue. While practicing, this can be as subtle as choosing to come out of a pose before pain arises rather than pushing through to ‘achieve’ it.

How to Practice Non-Violence (Ahimsa)

Violence or harm appears in our lives in many forms. The first step in practicing Ahimsa is to become aware of the harm we might be causing. It may be impossible to completely avoid all harm. The Niyamas teach us to practice good hygiene, but washing will cause harm to the bacteria and other microbes that live on our skin. Housekeeping might destroy the homes of spiders, or the spiders themselves. We have to find a balance so that we can live a productive and healthy life while causing as little harm as possible.

Strategies for practicing Ahimsa include:

• Avoid physical violence to yourself and others. This might mean resisting peer pressure to engage in dangerous activities and managing your ego to reduce your need to prove your bravery.
• Avoid foods or drinks that will harm your body.
• Instead of replaying a mistake in your mind, you consciously choose to acknowledge it and move on without self-judgment.
• Minimize your harm to tiny creatures that try to share your home; you may be able to relocate them or stop them from entering the home instead of killing them.
• Reduce harm to yourself by learning to control negative thought patterns and manage negative emotions in a healthy way.

Yama 2: Truth (Satya)

Satya means truthfulness, seeing and expressing things as they are, without distortion.

In Satya, we are encouraged to recognize the universal truth in comparison to our personal truth. Once you can start to recognize the universal truth, you also start to live it. This is what makes the Yamas of Satya mean more than simply not telling lies. How can you speak the truth if you don’t know the truth?

With Satya you see things as they really are, instead of how you would like to see them or how you expect them to be. Becoming comfortable with this level of honesty will allow you to accept things, including yourself, as they really are. In real life, this often appears in small moments, like admitting you feel overwhelmed instead of saying, ‘I’m fine,’ or acknowledging a mistake instead of justifying it.

How to practice Truth (Satya)

Satya is about understanding and accepting the truth about yourself and the world around you.

Strategies for practicing Satya include the following:

• Acknowledge that your perceptions may be influenced by your feelings, emotions, or expectations and the limitations of our senses and the mind.
• Try to look beyond your initial perceptions to see what is real. For example, “I sent a message to my friend and I haven’t received an answer” is real. The explanations we create in our minds, “They’re ignoring me,” “They don’t like me,” “I offended them,” and “They’re being rude,” are not real.
• Speak your truth and stand up for what you think as long as it’s safe to do so.
• Express yourself clearly and accurately.
• Ask for more information if others don’t express themselves clearly.

Yama 3: Non-Stealing (Asteya)

Asteya means non-stealing, or not taking what is not freely given, including time, energy, or credit.

In simple terms, it is the practice of not taking something that isn’t yours. As with all five Yamas of yoga, it goes beyond the obvious. It isn’t just about not stealing objects like cars or money. Theft in yoga philosophy refers to taking unfair advantage or unfair exchange; this could mean deliberately making unfair bargains, not doing a job as well as you could have, or pretending someone’s ideas were your own. I often see this in subtle ways, for example, interrupting someone, expecting immediate replies, or taking more time and attention than was mutually agreed upon.

How to Practice Non-Stealing (Asteya)

Awareness is important because most people think they don’t steal. However, theft creeps into our lives in forms like slacking off at work or making a spiteful comment that steals someone’s joy. Often the urge to steal arises from an internal unhappiness or jealousy, so we can reduce the urge by becoming more self-aware and finding healthy ways to meet our needs and feel contentment.

To avoid stealing, choose personal aims such as the following:

• Doing your best at work or when helping others.
• Following through on promises.
• Acting kindly and supportively.
• Making fair deals and bargains without seeking a better deal for yourself.

Be generous with the things you can afford to give to others, even if it’s just a smile. Generosity is the opposite of stealing and creates positivity that counters the urge to steal.

Yama 4: Non-Indulgence (Brahmacharya)

Brahmacharya means moderation, using your energy wisely instead of overindulging in pleasure or distraction.

Overindulging in sensory pleasures can cause problems and unhappiness in our lives. Brahmacharya encourages us to control our desires and reduce our use of sensory indulgences. Our senses distract us from more important and effective ways of finding happiness and contentment.

Brahmacharya doesn’t require abstinence or completely avoiding everything enjoyable. It simply asks you to enjoy what you already have in life and seek pleasure in moderation.  For many people today, this is less about celibacy and more about managing where your energy goes, especially in areas like screen time, constant stimulation, and mental overload. A simple test is to ask, “Does this activity leave me feeling clearer and more stable, or more restless and depleted?”

How to Practice Non-Indulgence (Brahmacharya)

Avoiding overindulging in physical pleasures is the basic principle of Brahmacharya. You may consider ideas such as:

• Avoiding activities or substances that are known to be addictive.
• Eating for pleasure on occasion, but making most of your food choices for health rather than pleasure.
• Making wise choices about entertainment (books, movies, games, etc.) so that your mind is not constantly distracted by thoughts of seeking more entertainment.
• Observing your wants versus your needs.

When seeking pleasure, consider activities that are good for your health or well-being as well as being pleasurable. Walking in nature or getting a restorative massage could fit this description if used in moderation.

Yama 5: Non-Collection (Aparigraha)

Aparigraha means non-possessiveness, letting go of the need to hold on to things, people, or outcomes.

We live in a world where accumulation is often equated with success, whether that’s possessions, achievements, or even validation from others.

Aparigraha encourages us to reject this urge to own more things. It also urges us to feel less possessive about the things and people in our lives. This is closely related to the feeling of jealousy, so Aparigraha suggests that we should not act on our feelings of jealousy but instead learn to find contentment in a simpler life. This often becomes clear during practice when someone forces a pose instead of accepting where their body is that day.

How to Practice Non-Collection (Aparigraha)

Begin by contemplating what you possess, why you possess those things, and how you feel about them. Do you cling to possessions out of fear of losing them? If so, you might reduce your openness to receiving other things that might be more important to your well-being.

Ideas to consider include:

• Before acquiring a new item (shoes, a streaming subscription, a car), ask yourself if you really need it. Do you already have enough? Do you need the new thing now, or could it wait?
• Understand that possessiveness also applies to people. Learning how to manage and reduce possessive feelings will lead to healthier relationships.
• Make good use of the things in your possession, without becoming emotionally attached to the ownership or outcome. This will likely lead to less need for more possessions.
• Take care of items equally well regardless of whether they are your possession or belong to someone else.

Final Thought

Living the Yamas means applying them in small, everyday situations. It’s not about being perfect but about becoming more aware of your choices over time. These principles are considered universal, meaning they apply to everyone, regardless of culture, lifestyle, or level of yoga practice.

Striving to improve our awareness and stimulate inner growth can be very challenging. There may be aspects you think you understand now that you will understand very differently in a few years. It will be an evolving process, and you will find deeper layers as your inner character strengthens and grows. If you feel drawn to explore the Yamas more deeply, our 25-Hour Online Yoga Philosophy course offers a gentle, structured way to understand these teachings and integrate them into your daily life at your own pace and with thoughtful guidance.

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