Sabbatical Day 123 (9.9.16) Ahimsa - Non Violence

In yoga teacher training we learned what yoga is and the philosophies behind it. Included in our learnings are what's called yamas and niyamas. Yamas are moral principals or refusals. The first of which is called ahimsa or the practice of non-violence. I want to be able to apply what I learn in training to my own experiences, so here goes:

Non-violence sounds pretty easy, right? But it isn't just about non getting into fights.

Violence can show itself at any point in the day - road rage, in pushing yourself too hard, focusing too much of your energy in one thing, in getting upset at the cashier for being too slow, in becoming frustrated at work.

In our training we have learned to become more aware, more conscious. By practicing non-violence, you see the things that make you upset - acknowledge, then control the feeling.

Non-violence is a struggle for me-especially in daily deeds. I walk to school everyday and get frustrated with the cars that don't stop for me, with the people who cross the street while on their phones. I know I need to acknowledge that feeling of frustration and move past it. I try hard to be empathetic and put myself in their shoes.

What I notice now is that I am more able to acknowledge my feeling when I have a longer interaction with someone and they make me upset. I am also able to be more empathetic. For example I am taking Korean at an academy nearby. They have really good reviewed which is why I chose to attend classes there. However as I attended I learned that they have several administrative misgivings that frustrate me. One of the frustrations is how they administer their monthly culture trip. I went last month and there was very little information provided and no organization. We ended up on a bus for 3 hours and had no idea where we were going or when we were going to be able to eat lunch, among other things. At the time, I hadn't yet started my yoga training but once I did start, I noticed there were more and more frustrations I had with the academy. At the end of my month long class, I decided to provide feedback on my experience as part of acknowledgement of my feelings. I tried very hard to understand why they did not provide any information to the students and not let my emotions come across when providing my feedback.