Exploring Yoga can lead you on several paths. Learning more and more about yourself every moment. As I came upon Saucha or Purity I was slightly confused as to what this means in the context of Yoga. Saucha is the first of the Niyamas (Read more here about Niyamas). Many of us think of purity and think of being untouched or perfection. That is not what Saucha is. While part of Saucha is cleansing our bodies and minds, it is also about purely loving yourself. Instead of looking for someone else’s love, love yourself for you. It means the beginning of focusing on our spiritual body instead of our physical body.
Patanjali wrote Saucat svangajugupsa parairasamsargah. Sri Swami Satchidananda translates to By purification arises disgust for one’s own body and for contact with other bodies.
This means once purification comes we begin to realize our physical bodies are just bodies it does not define us, the body is not who you are it is a vessel. Our bodies become indifferent, we no longer admire it. We begin to realize our true self.
As a society many are so concerned with our physical bodies we never really get the chance to discover who we truly are. Purity invites us to explore and love our true self. Debra Adele says “Being pure with ourselves means we are not afraid of our thoughts or our feelings, and we do not have to hide anything from ourselves.”
We are beautiful creatures with our own unique spirits. Dive into that spirit, find out truly who you are and love it! Live purely as you!
Practice Saucha, find yourself and love that self!
Want to dive deeper into Purity? Check out Debra Adele’s Book Yamas & Niyamas
Namaste
Katie B
