“People will generally accept facts as truth if the facts agree with what they already believe” Andy Rooney
Satya is the second yama (social disciplines). Yama is one of the eight limbs of yoga (Ashtanga Yoga) as described by the sage Patañjali. Satya is often translated as ‘truthfulness’ although there’s a whole lot more to the concept than ‘not telling lies’.
In Sanskrit, the prefix sat- literally translates to ‘true essence’. But in reality, it has a multitude of meanings and is a common root for many Sanskrit words, most commonly to describe a thing or concept ‘that is unchangeable’. Hence, although Satya is often translated as truthfulness, like an onion, there are further layers to this concept that you start to discover once you start peeling back the most obvious interpretations of the term. Rather than just referring to truthfulness, Satya can imply recognising what is real, being authentic, not being blinded by our subjective view on the world and people.
But let’s start with the most obvious - being truthful. In some ways, the older we get, the truth can be more difficult to navigate. While most of us learn often and early the importance of telling the truth, we at the same time discover the appeal in lies. The conviction that we should tell the truth comes in conflict with our guilt over breaking our brother’s toy or forgetting to complete our homework. A lie feels more palatable and we’re often told ‘white lies’ don’t count - until of course we find ourselves in a web of lies too sticky to escape. There’s also the cousin of a lie, hyperbole. The pressures of presenting ourselves online in a certain way have created a whole new set of ‘lies’ thanks to photoshop and filters in order to project a certain image of ourselves to the outside world. Our insatiable need for validation has led us down a path where we spend hours on our phones and/or laptops engineering and crafting the ‘self’ that we want others to see. So without necessarily lying or being deceitful, we are actively projecting and fostering something that isn’t necessarily authentic.
So what does this mean for our yoga practice? If we try to live yoga off the mat and follow the Yoga Sūtras, we might try to practice Satya as the “one who shows a high degree of right communication [who] will not fail in his actions.” But rather than actively trying to ‘live’ Satya, yoga confronts us with reality and almost forces us to be honest with ourselves in terms of recognising how our bodies and minds change everyday and that we have no other choice but acceptance, no matter how many photos you post of fancyasana and positivity quotes everyday.
As such, the practice of Satya happens on and off the mat. The commitment to truthfulness can be as small as getting out of an asana that doesn’t feel right to telling someone the real reason for your anger. Part of practicing Satya is an awareness of your own limitations and boundaries physically and mentally. In our yoga practice and outside it, we hope to both implement Satya and inch towards it through actively checking in with our body, breath and mind.
What does Satya mean for this blog? We’re two, new-ish yoga teachers discovering what an authentic practice and teaching means to us. We’re still figuring out how to offer a practice we think students will be receptive to but is in line with what we believe. We’d love to be a bit more honest about the difficulties of teaching yoga (financial, emotional, physical and otherwise) while sharing the genuine joys of sharing a practice we love. We’ll share our ups and (hopefully fewer) downs, and ask our friends to tell their stories too.
Most importantly, we are not here to preach how to live truthfully or authentically, but rather want to take you on a journey with us in our attempt to live and breathe yoga off the mat - and, to start being truthful, this can be really bloody hard.
Part of this blog is also about being honest where we’ve gone wrong. This might be sharing stories of ‘bad classes’ or ‘bad yogi behaviour,’ but it also means that we hope to create a space where we ourselves are open to hard to hear truths. If we get something wrong, we hope we can have open and constructive discussions with you. In this learning and expanded awareness, we’re excited (and nervous!) to get started on this journey.
Disclaimer on references:
We perhaps don’t say this enough, but yoga is an ancient and rich practice and there are many interpretations over fundamental aspects of yoga. Unless otherwise stated, we relied on a few classic texts (listed below) for our more info-based posts.
The Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice by T.K.V. Desikachar
Light on Yoga by B.K.S. Iyengar
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