Ishvara translates universal consciousness / a higher power / God / source / *insert your chosen word or phrase*. Pranidhana means to surrender, dedicate or devote. So together, Ishwara Pranidhana is about surrendering to a higher power. This guides us to shift our perspective away from the ego ‘I’ and towards our true Self.

Can I be honest with you? For the last few months, maybe even longer, I have fallen out of love with yoga. Actually, not yoga, but asana. I have been trying to work out why this is and I realised it’s because of my work within the cultural appropriation of yoga space.

Swadhyaya (svahd-yah-yah) is our penultimate niyama. It is a beautiful word to wrap your tongue around with ‘swa’ meaning ‘self’ and ‘dhyaya’ meaning contemplating, meditating on or reflecting upon. Together, it can be translated as self-study, self-contemplation or introspection. It’s about, once again, peeling back the layers to find your true Self or the divine within you.

Tapah or tapas (tah-pahs) means austerity or discipline. It comes from the root word 'tap' which means to burn, to shine, to give out heat. This can be taken to mean burning away any impurities - physically, mentally and emotionally - to give way to our higher selves. It also means being disciplined and hard-working towards this endeavour. Now, this doesn't have to be super serious! We can look at it as being enthusiastic and having a fiery passion towards our personal growth and goals.

Santosha (san-toh-shah) is made up of two Sanskrit words: sam, meaning completely or altogether, and tosha, meaning contentment or acceptance. So together, santosha translates to complete contentment.

We go through life backwards. We think that children aren’t intelligent and that us adults are superior.

Saucha (sow-chah) translates to purity or cleanliness of both our internal and external environment. Our environment reflects our state of mind and can affect how we feel. A cluttered or messy room can be an indication that we need to explore our internal environment as well as tidy and/or declutter.

Cultural appropriation is rife in the wellness industry from Ayurveda to Shamanism to Yoga and the hundreds of ancient indigenous practices in between.

Aparigraha (ah-pah-ree-grah-hah) translates to non-possessiveness or non-attachment. This important yama teaches us to take only what we need, keep only what serves us in the moment and to let go when the time is right.

Our fourth sub-limb of the Yamas is brahmacharya (brah-muh-char-yuh). This has many different meanings including celibacy and restraint which makes it an unpopular or misunderstood yama.

Asteya (uh-stay-ah) is our third sub-principle within the Yamas. It translates to non-stealing. And just as with ahimsa and satya there is more to this yama than meets the eye. Stealing is defined as “to take the property of another wrongfully and especially as a habitual or regular practice”.

Last year when I started sharing my yoga knowledge and teaching I felt something was missing. It didn't feel completely aligned and it took me a little while to recognise why that was.

Our next yama is satya (saht-yah) which means truthfulness. The root word ‘sat’ means 'true essence' or 'true nature'. It refers to that which is unchangeable.

Ahimsa (a-him-sah) translates to non-violence.

As we delve deeper into yogic philosophy we will be considering the terms at three levels - thoughts, words and actions. These are all connected since your thoughts become your words, your words become your actions, your actions become your habits, your habits become your character and your character becomes your values.

So with non violence we must consider how we're being violent at the thought level, word level and action level.

What scares me most is unfulfilled potential - the thought of being on my deathbed and wishing I had left that job and followed my dreams.