Ahimsa in your Meditation and Affirmations!

If you’ve followed along recently, you’ve learned how to apply Ahimsa (or non-violence) into your daily life, your asana practice, and your pranayama breathing exercises.

But what about meditation?

Ahimsa can be applied here as well.Sometimes during meditation, one particularly annoying thought may arise and completely distract the mind.Other times it might be extra hard to stay completely still and in the moment.This can happen to anyone… no matter how long you’ve practiced for.So first thing’s first…  

Don’t judge yourself if despite practice you still struggle sometimes.

It’s absolutely normal. You’ll remember that this is also true in asana practice. It’s true in many aspects of life.Every day we are subject to thousands of external things, and we don’t have control over most of them. Many we’re not even conscious of.It’s ok to be unable to stay focused on the object of meditation — be it a mantra, yantra, breath, etc.Times like this are an opportunity to practice Ahimsa and to choose not to try and force yourself to stay in meditation.Again, this is all about not judging yourself.To do this you might start moving your body. Take a little walk. Gently stretch. Take your Yoga deck and pick some cards in a mindful way.
Try to use this bit of movement to clear your mind.If you force yourself to keep trying to meditate, you can easily develop a headache.It’s very important to integrate Ahimsa into your yoga practice — asana, pranayama, and meditation — because it helps you to keep your practice safe, enjoyable, and kind.

The more you train yourself to apply this idea to your practice, the more you will begin to notice it in many other aspects of daily life.

The practice is a tool. A way of “training” to be our best selves on and off the mat.You’ll discover that your practice becomes a mirror of your life. It lets you see your tendencies more clearly.If you don’t practice Ahimsa in your daily life, you will most likely find yourself practicing in a very hard, harsh, and competitive way.

Or you might take more risks and ultimately hurt yourself because you’ll tend to ignore your body’s signals.

Use these tips I’ve given you and use them as a starting point to integrate them into your daily practice.

And when you’re ready… you can integrate them into the other areas of your life.I hope this helps you better your daily life!

If you don’t mind sharing how these ideas influence your life, I’d love to hear from you. Stop by the Facebook Group and share yourself.

Also, before I leave you…I want to share some affirmations we also posted on Instagram. (Follow us for more tips and tutorials!)

I am love
I embrace who I am
I accept love from myself and others
I am fulfilled in my desire to be seen
I am perfect the way I am
I am constantly growing and evolving
I am love
I am loved

Repeat these affirmations in the morning for the coming week to set a good tune for your day.

This is a great way to reconnect with the true essence of Ahimsa. With love,Arianna

P.S. Stay tuned because next week I’m going to introduce the Niyama of the next month (August)!
I can’t wait to start this new journey with you.️