In yoga philosophy there are ethical principles called yamas and niyamas, that aim to improve the quality of our lives. Yamas are the five principles that aim to support us in better navigating the world in relation to others. Niyamas are the five principles that help us better understand our relationship to ourselves.

Ahimsa is one of the yamas, a key principle in the yoga philosophy and a spiritual doctrine shared by Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.

What is the meaning of ahimsa?

The Sanskrit word ‘ahimsa’ translates to non-injury, doing no harm.

This principle intends to minimize any violence or harm done through physical actions, words, or thoughts to any other living being.

What does ahimsa mean to me?

We talk about non-violence in relation to others, but we forget to bring awareness to the violence so many of us are doing to ourselves every day in the form of destructive thoughts, negative self-talk, unhealthy habits, and even physically hurting ourselves.

Since I was a teenager and experienced trauma, I found safety in repeating negative, harmful, and even abusive behavior toward myself.

It played out mostly as severe food and calorie restriction, as well as overexercising up to a point where it was no longer healthy for me. For a period of time, I was bulimic. I was forcing myself to vomit after binge eating.

I had negative, even toxic, thought patterns about myself, mainly evolving around weight, and not having “earned” my food, followed by punishment.

Through my spiritual journey, I became aware that I was treating myself with punishment, shame, and obligation instead of compassion, love, and kindness. This was a huge breaking point in my life. The first step to change is awareness of the current situation. 

Once I ”saw” what I was doing to myself, I tattooed ‘kindness’ onto my wrist to remind myself to never hurt myself again. I wanted to remember to always treat myself with love and compassion. I wanted to learn how I can live in a way that is supportive and honoring to myself.

 My kindness tattoo together with one of the first books guiding me on my spiritual journey.

Ahimsa is energy

What you do to others, you do to yourself. What you do to yourself, you do to others. 

I believe in Universal energy. If you have ever had a transcendental experience, you will never go back to not seeing it exist. There is a vibration that is happening in the world and we impact it with our own actions. The energy we bring into this world becomes a part of the Universal energy.

When I hurt myself I also create pain in the external world, which is an extension of myself. When I hurt myself, I’m also hurting others. Negative vibration, harmful thoughts, or hurt that I bring into the Universal pool of energy, vibrates further and extends. 

When I love myself and care for myself, I also care for others. I’m bringing good energy into the world.

When I understood this, it completely shifted my focus from the obsession with self-inflicted pain and suffering to taking care of the energy that I bring out into the world.

It had to start with my own well-being and happiness because whatever action I took from suffering, would not bring happiness to others.

Ahimsa starts with You

The principle of ahimsa is there to guide you in how you should treat yourself and others with kindness.

I believe it must always start with yourself. You deserve to be your priority and that will be good for others too. If you do good things to keep others happy but ignore your well-being you will suffer inside. That isn’t ahimsa, that is ego prioritizing the external validation over you. 

When you genuinely respect, love, and cherish your unique self, you will feel much better. This will also make you want others to live in that full expression of themselves.

It all comes down to reminding yourself that you are worthy of loving and supporting treatment. The first person to give that treatment to yourself is you. While we might think it’s innate, it can sometimes be stained by painful trauma, conditioning, or self-destructive beliefs. 

Apply ahimsa to your life

I’ve found the practice of positive affirmations extremely helpful in learning kindness towards myself and others, and that’s what ahimsa can start with.

You can start practicing ahimsa with kind, compassionate, supportive self-talk. You can start choosing people, diets, hobbies, and environments in your life that are good for you. You can start quieting those mean, jealous thoughts about others and practice understanding them. 

You can seek others to support you in this journey if you can’t do it alone, but it must start with you accepting where you are now and choosing to start making better decisions – not only for others but also for yourself.