🙏 ✨It is a common misconception that yoga is an exercise practice. In reality, it is an 8 step process towards reaching spiritual enlightenment and bliss in life. The first step includes 5 elements which refer to self-regulating behaviors that involve our interactions with other people and the world at large. ✨ Yama. The 5 elements of yama highlight the external dimension of reaching spiritual enlightenment. The fifth yama is aparigraha: non-possessiveness. Non-possessiveness can be applied in many different ways. Do you notice yourself being possessive in life? Maybe you like to collect accessories, quality foods, clothes, or even movies. It is common to have an attachment to our possessions. It is also common for us to have an attachment to people. But, it is important that we remember that we were born with nothing and we will leave with nothing. So, how can we let material items and people affect our mood and happiness? People come and go. Things come and go. Our happiness cannot be determined by what we have in the moment because life is fleeting, and what we have can leave as fast as it entered our life. Nicolai Bachman said it beautifully; “as we accumulate more stuff, most of our time is spent maintaining it, leaving less time for our own internal development.” Another part of possessiveness is having strict opinions and becoming rigid in our beliefs. It is important that we are open-minded towards other views because the world is always changing and it is important for us to be flexible. Possessiveness can also be seen in conversation. Do you like to steer the conversation in your direction, or are you actively listening? Try to notice next time. Remember: everything is just a habit and habits can be broken. We have to let go of that control. We have to learn to “share power”. This step, yama, combined with these five elements, is the most important step – which is why it is first. We have to fix our relationship with the outer world before we can work inwards. Of course, we can work on all of the limbs at the same time, but establishing a “strong ethical backbone” helps us to support our journey towards self-realization. 🙏