Ahimsa is the practice of non-harm and non violence which is not exclusive to just yourself. In fact, that’s not how I used it during these past weeks. I have always been a non violent person, I don’t like hurting anyone and would rather take a hit then hit. Which is where my focus ended up being. Not harm to others but harm to myself, not physically but mentally. I have always put myself in situations so others wouldn’t have to endure challenges and have neglected myself in the process. For this blog I wanted to reflect and practice non self harm to myself by taking time for myself, sleeping more, and taking a load off my plate. It is very unlike me to not always be busy but my goal was to take as much off my schedule as possible so I can enjoy myself, my family, and my friends. So my independent variable was practicing no self harm and my dependent variable was my well-being. My hypothesis was pretty straightforward in that practicing no self harm and taking care of myself first would make me happier and be better for me mentally and physically.
After practicing this for a couple weeks, the journey has been interesting because I don’t feel like I have changed in a way that is recognizable but I feel like I have changed mentally. My altered variable was to try to create more personal time and not have so much on my plate. I would make sure to sleep more and not overpack my schedule. It was extremely difficult as it was against my nature and there lied the difficulty. Yet I knew this would be difficult, I knew people would ask me if I was ok and I was. I just shifted my focus on clearing my schedule rather than making sure it was full.
As for the practice of physical postures, asana provides the opportunity to really tune in to the body and check in. Although I do believe in the separation of mind and body, there is a small connection and one can effect the other. The mind can reflect the body and the body can reflect the mind. Being in a calm physical posture can reflect a calm and relaxed mind. It has helped me in the goal of taking more time for myself as rather than go out on a friday night to unwind I can use asana to unwind from the week instead. It provides a physical relaxation as well as a mental one. Therefore, I do believe they are related because although they are two separate entities they can have positive and also negative effects on each other.
One of the things I’ve learned from this is the idea of doing my own research with me as a subject. In class, we talked about how science isn’t always right so being the one who was conducting it with myself as the test subject I was able to see first hand if what science or the study of yoga and ahimsa actually worked. I think any rational person who is interested in seeing things for themselves should use themselves as the manipulated variable (depending on the study) to be able to fully understand why and how things happen.
Work cited
Farhi, Donna. “Donna Farhi: Living Principles.” Yoga mind, body & spirit: a return to wholeness, 2000, pp. 1-11.
Forbes, Bo. “Introduction: Yoga’s Role in Emotional Balance.” Yoga for Emotional Balance, 2011, pp. 1-10.