Satya: Give It To Me Straight

The truth isn’t always an easy thing to hear. This realization of truth may be coming from another person or from you. For example, I don’t always love to teach yoga. The first time I realized this truth I felt pretty awful. How could I not love yoga, all the hours I’ve spent training, all the students who I’ve helped. How could I not love it?

Satya is one of the yamas. This one falls in the category of how you treat yourself, the people around you and the planet as a whole. Being truthful is so important because dishonesty ties into guilt and we all know that guilt can eat away at us till we are empty inside.  Even the smallest of guilt, although not always in our forethought, can have repercussions. If we don’t resolve this guilt, our body will store it and it can affect the rest of our koshas.

One of the first steps to truthfulness is to figure out why you are being dishonest. You obviously have your reasons, or maybe you don’t, but in order to become honest you will need to do some digging. Journaling and meditation are great for this. If seated meditation isn’t your thing, try a walking meditation.

Allowing your mind to focus on one thing, and one thing only, will give you the time and space to find the root of the issue. When I sat with why I didn’t always love teaching I found out that during the times I wasn’t loving it, I was usually really busy. I saw teaching as yet another thing that was zapping my free time and energy. I still loved yoga, but it was adding stress to my already busy schedule. When I became aware of this I was able to shift my thoughts from not loving teaching to taking the times that I teach to slow down. The time I spent in the classroom teaching didn’t have to be a time sucker, but a time for me to stop and take a breath, to draw energy from the yoga. I found the positive in the negative because I took the time to find the truth.

Dishonesty generally stems from a situation we find ourselves in that we just don’t like. We want to make it better so we lie. These lies can be little white lies all the way up to a major one. No matter the size, it is still a lie. Telling the truth can be scary. You never know how the person that you lied to will react to your sudden telling of the truth. There may be consequences. The best you can do in these situations is be honest with the person, tell them why you lied and that you will be honest with them in the future. If they get so upset that they cut you out of their lives, perhaps they have some truths that they need to face themselves.

Life is full of situations that are constantly challenging us. The yamas and niyamas give us pause, allow us that split second to make a decision that is ethical and will give us peace of mind. Peace of mind gives you peace of body. Your relationships will be stronger because your family and friends will know that you are who you say you are and that when you speak, it is always from truthfulness.