What do Gandhi, Mother Teresa and you all have in common? Well, if you do yoga, all three of you are committed to Ahimsa – non-harming.



Ahimsa is yoga’s golden rule. The great second century sage, Patanjali, made it a pre-requisite for all the other practices, beating yoga poses, breathing techniques and meditation to the top position.

When I discussed Ahimsa with my students recently, they came up with some great examples of how they practice non-harming in their daily lives. One explained how she carefully trapped a house spider and set it free in the garden (instead of squishing it!) Another said that she bit her lip when she was about to shout at her kids. A third described how she had become a vegan so she wouldn’t harm other living creatures.

There are lots of ways to avoid doing harm on a day to day basis. But we often overlook one of the most common ways in which we do harm to other people. Our lifestyle choices.

It’s not always comfortable to think about, but every decision you make has consequences. Yoga is the process of cultivating mindfulness, becoming aware of every thought and action. This starts on the mat with attention to alignment, breath and mind-chatter, then extends out into every aspect of your life. Are you really practising yoga if you agonize over your alignment in Trikonasana, yet fail to apply the same degree of attention to your consumer choices?

Ahimsa means being mindful of how our behaviour affects others, directly and indirectly. Here are a few practical ways to refine the practice of non-harming:

Food choices: On average, Australians waste 136kg of food per person per year. When we chuck food scraps or ‘out of date’ items in the bin, it’s goes into landfill and gives off methane - a greenhouse gas 25 times more potent than what comes out of your car exhaust. But it’s not just the food you see in the bin that is wasted. It’s also the massive amount of resources that went into producing, storing, processing and transporting it. Aside from the environmental implications, it’s also sobering to discover that over 2 million Australians a year rely on food relief. Can you buy less? Can you grow more? Can you compost your waste food?

Clothing: There are some well known clothing brands that actively discourage trade unionism in developing countries to avoid paying award wages to their workers. If we’re practising Ahimsa, we might want to consider the provenance of our clothing next time we grab a fashion bargain. It just doesn’t seem right to do yoga in a pair of pants that were manufactured at the expense of a struggling family in neighbouring Indonesia. Can you buy less? Can you purchase what you need from an ethical, green clothing company? For ethical yoga clothes try Dharma Bums or Bodha.

Water: How does our water use impact future generations? It’s not just a question of using the economy setting on the dishwasher or watering the garden after 4pm. Did you know it takes 50, 000 litres of water to produce 1kg of beef (to put this into perspective, it takes just 500 litres to grow 1kg of potatoes)? I’m not pushing a vegetarian agenda (plenty of free range organic chickens are devoured with gusto in my kitchen), but cutting down on meat consumption is practising Ahimsa on lots of levels – environmental, humanitarian and personal health.

Stuff: A lot of resources go into making all the stuff we don’t need. I become uncomfortably aware of this every Christmas. Using recycled wrapping, making our own cards from recycled resources and buying gifts that everyone really needs (and giving home made jam and cookies to the people who have everything!) are some of the ways we tackle the problem of ‘too much stuff’. I’m sure you can think of plenty more.

Doing yoga can have a direct and positive effect on the world we live in if we put Ahimsa back into its rightful place – right at the forefront of our practice.





Nikola Ellis is the founder of Adore Yoga. Yoga Therapist, Teacher Trainer and mother, Nikola is currently undertaking a Masters degree in pyschotherapy. Join Nikola on retreat, for workshops and mentoring.