My mind is busy trying to decipher the order of each day lately. What’s happening in the market? Are more banks going under? Who’s ahead in the polls? Did I feed my cat? Where are my glasses? What’s for breakfast?

Busy mind. It is always there with the preamble of chaos, internal and external.  

What I know to be true during these uncertain times is that I am practicing and my practice, literally, is my refuge. I notice my heart overflowing with gratitude right now to yoga community whether I am teaching a class or sitting in class as a student. I am grateful to be on a path with people who are creating a better world. We are creating a world which values integrity, truthfulness, compassion, discipline and self-reflection. This is the world I want to live in, this is the world I live in: one in which we can feel the pulsing of our hearts, one in which we remember that we’re all connected and that our actions HAVE an impact on each other and on the planet.  

The world at large is not acting from these values as a general rule right now, and yet while the world seems topsey turvey, and we are three weeks away from deciding who our next president will be, I am reminded of the founding principles of this country: freedom, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Unfortunately, we have waivered from that path as a nation. The way back, I believe is through each of us. Each of us has to take personal responsibility for how we are living moment to moment to moment. There is no one to blame for the travesty of it all. What are we doing now and how is it affecting those around us, the planet and ourselves? These are the questions we need to be asking and answering.  

Yoga offers us a path with its own “Bill of Rights” so to speak. We have the 10 yamas and niyamas, laid down by Patanjali, author of the Yoga Sutras,  as a map to guide us in life. These values offer us integrity and allow authenticity.  I believe if we all committed to living to our highest potential, and let our light shine forth in the world, we would no longer point fingers outward because we would have the inner satisfaction of living our path and our destiny.  

Imagine a world in which people were understanding and compassionate in their words and actions, they spoke their truth to you without condemning you for your beliefs, they never took more than was given and were generous by nature. Imagine tapping into your own creativity and writing that poem or painting that picture you’ve been wanting to. Imagine finding contentment in the simple things: washing dishes, doing laundry, cooking a delicious dinner for friends, putting your kids to bed. Imagine you and your family ate such healthy food that you all  felt full of energy, and  that the people you all surrounded yourself with were uplifting and positive and you read and listened to inspiring stories. Imagine you had the inner discipline to make some of your dreams come true and that you took some time in your day, even 15 minutes, to reflect on how you were living. And imagine a world in which you recognized the mystery of life when you looked at the trees, the sky, your sleeping baby.  

As John Lennon said: Imagine!  

We can have this kind of world. It’s at our fingertips and it is a possibility. I live in this world. Yoga offers us a path to create this world for ourselves with the roadmap of the Yamas and Niyamas. They are the yogic “Bill of Rights.” This path gives us the chance to live with great health, inspiring authenticity, and full hearts. Here is the list of 10 yamas and niyamas (these words mean: restraints and codes of conduct) to try applying in your own life if you haven’t already:  

1. Ahimsa: Non harming actions, words and thoughts. Traditionally translated as non-violence to all beings. Try walking through the day with compassionate thoughts, words and actions towards yourself, your family, friends, co-workers and people who you may never say hello to: the clerks in stores, gas station attendants, janitors etc. And then try this with people you are most challenged by.  

2. Satya: Speak your truth (with compassion as the foundation).  Stay close to your truth without harming someone else by making them wrong for their truth which might be opposite of yours. (An excellent practice in our political climate currently.)  

3. Asteya: Not stealing. Consider cultivating a sense of “enoughness.” That you have enough. Enough love, health, food, clothes, tools etc. Can we cultivate the feeling of abundance instead of the feeling of lack (that which the media promotes) so that we don’t take more than we need from the greater collective. By taking only what we need (something to reflect on what we “need”) we leave enough for others as well.  

4. Brahmacharya: Practicing brahmacharya means that we use our sexual energy to regenerate our connection to our spiritual self. It is commonly translated as celibacy, but it really is the redirection of the powerful energy of sexuality used for deeper spiritual growth.  

5. Aparigraha: Not grasping. When we hold onto things, ideas, people, we are not free. We are bound by our own clinging.  We practice aparigraha when we begin to look at ways we reinforce our own self image and the boxes we place ourselves in by doing so. How do our self images as woman, man, mother, father, yogi, teacher, student, business person, Democrat, Republican, black, white, inform us? How do these self images inform how we relate to others?

6. Saucha: The practice of purity for body, mind and heart. Saucha invites us to nourish our bodies with healthy food, to feed our minds with positive uplifting information and to associate with people who inspire us to live to our best potential. It asks us to tend to our environments at home and at work and make them clean and free of clutter. Saucha asks us to make clear choices to support a balanced and healthy life.  

7. Santosha: Contentment. Can we simply be with the conditions of our lives as they are and be content with what we are living whether we are in a period of abundance and joy, or a period of grief and loss?

8. Tapas: This is the disciplined use of our energy. Tapas gives us, literally, the “fire” to get something done. It leads us towards what we are authentically “on fire” for and gives us motivation to do the work involved in that path.

9. Svadhyaya: To continue on a path of self-study and self-awareness. It is the path to fully inhabiting all of who we are, the light and the dark sides, and to have compassion for ourselves.  

10. Ishvarapranidhana: Celebrating the spiritual. We spend time acknowledging a greater mystery through meditation, yoga, walking in nature or whatever inspires the soul.