In Yoga philosophy there are 10 ethical guidelines called the Yamas and Niyamas.
In contrast to my experience with the 10 commandments in my youth, the Yamas (constraints) and Niyamas (Observances) were a breath of fresh air. Like the 10 commandments they outline things we should and should not be doing in life. But here, the emphasis is not on punishment if we fail to follow them, but on the rewards to our life if we do.
The yamas and niyamas help us to become self-actualized and aid us on our path toward samsara (a sanskrit word for freedom from suffering and limitations.)
I don’t know about you, but I would love to be free from suffering and limitations! Sign me up!
In this blog, we are going to examine the first Niyama – Saucha. Saucha is a Sanskrit word for purity. When I first heard of Saucha, I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical. Was this going to be the old version of ‘purity’ I grew up with — focused only on sexual thoughts or behavior? Furthermore, why would the ancient yogis consider purity so essential that they made it one of only ten ethical practices?”
Let me reassure you – Saucha is not about sexual conduct, it is a way of living that invites us to to become free from the mental and physical loads we carry.
Why Saucha Matters For Spiritual Growth & Expansion
Saucha invites us to purify our bodies, thoughts and words in preparation for the ultimate spiritual experience – being fully present in the moment, exactly as it is, while sensing the love, connection and belonging that exists there.
We have all likely had glimpses of these moments. Have you had an experience where suddenly everything seems to fall away? You are alert, and aware of everything in and around you, and yet completely relaxed. Your body feels spacious and alive. Your mind is clear. It’s as though the aperture on the lens of your awareness has suddenly opened up and you can see so much further and wider than just a moment before. You have a sense that you are deeply connected to yourself, others and the natural world. You know there is something much bigger than you guiding your journey and your heart is bursting with love, gratitude, wonder and awe. You aren’t bogged down by your past or anticipating your future. There isn’t anything missing. You are complete. You are just there in what feels like a magical sacred space.
What I have just described is true present moment awareness. Many people experience moments like these out in nature or in quiet moments with newborn babies, young children, or pets. Some people have these experiences during flow states, when they are totally absorbed in doing something they love.
Saucha & The FLow Of Life Force Energy – Prana
These moments are the truth of reality. A reality that is often obscured by layers of impurity that inactivate the life force energy within us. We all have a life force energy that resides within us – the energy of consciousness. This energy is the part of us that never dies and is never born. It inhabits and animates our bodies while here on earth. It guides us on our path.
If we are full of impurities, this life force energy gets blocked and we experience heaviness in the body, scatteredness of the mind and a sense of disconnection to self and others. We forget that those fleeting moments are actually who we are because we are carrying the heavy load of physical toxins, environmental clutter, negative mental chatter or emotional baggage like resentment, anger or victimhood.
Saucha invites us to put the loads we are carrying down by purifying our lives. There are many practices to help us get there.
Simple Practices To Cultivate Saucha In Daily Life
Purifying our bodies could look like eating a cleaner diet, drinking more water, exercising or sleeping more. We could perform detoxifying practices like breathwork, epsom salt baths, infrared saunas, neti pots or fasting.
Purifying our minds can look like slowing down and doing one thing at a time, meditation, following the yamas and niyamas, letting go of anger, resentment, judgement, fear or unforgiveness.
It could even mean purifying our physical space. Cleaning out closets or tidying up work spaces.
Purifying our speech can be done by vowing to avoid speaking anything that could cause harm or is untruthful. Or, to avoid gossiping and complaining.
All of these practices invite us to set down the loads we are carrying. To feel lighter, freer and to move with more ease in the world.
My Personal Journey With Saucha
In my own life I have certainly felt the weight of physical impurity. The heaviness in my body when I over eat, consume too much junk or don’t make time for exercise on a regular basis.
The sense of dis-ease when my house has gotten away from me and there are things laying all over surfaces and dishes piled in the sink.
Or the mental clutter that accumulates with constant rushing and multitasking, never really being present with anything before rushing off to the next thing on the never ending list of to-dos.
Chronic migraine often interferes with my sleep, leaving me feeling heavy, mentally unclear and grumpy.
In each of these cases I can feel how inpurity is dimming my light and making it harder for me to sense the truth. With my life force weighed down, I have trouble accessing the peace, presence and love that I know exists in every moment.
Perhaps some of my hardest experiences with Saucha have been around releasing the mental rumination, sadness, anger, fear, resentment and sense of helplessness that has come with a chronic pain condition. With my brain and body under attack on a regular basis from this disease, it’s easy to forget that I am more than just my body. I have (and sometimes still do!) hold onto the heavy weight of those thoughts and emotions like a badge of honor. As if in protest, I resist putting them down, somehow under the illusion that holding onto them will teach the disease a lesson!
But holding onto them only takes me further away from what I desire – direct contact with the beauty available in every moment. Saucha asks us to not only seek purity in ourselves, but purity in each moment by allowing it to be exactly as it is.
To be pure with the moment means leaving behind our expectations of what we would like it to be and judgements about what it is. It means fully opening up to what it is, and what we are, allowing it to wash over us.
I often have the difficult emotions I mentioned above. But when I can sit with them, see them as part of the human experience, and not as who I am, I am able to also see and feel the magic that exists right along side of them.
The Deeper Promise Of Saucha: Coming Home To Yourself
With the mental and physical load removed, our minds feel more clear, our bodies more energetic and expansive and our hearts more loving and compassionate. As we unburden our life force, we can live life in union with our soul, others and the Divine. Untethered from the fluctuations of life, we can return to become deeply present with our true selves, our purpose and our inner alignment.
For many women in midlife, this is a profound homecoming. After years of carrying the weight of responsibilities, expectations, and old stories about who we should be, Saucha offers us permission to finally set those loads down. In this season of life, we have the wisdom to know that what we carry—physically, mentally, and emotionally—shapes how we experience the world. By releasing what no longer serves us, we create the spaciousness to connect more fully with our authentic selves and with the ultimate truth: that we are already whole, worthy, and free.
Want to learn more about how the Yamas and Niyamas can help you come home to yourself? Check out these other blog posts.
