Niyama
recommended activities and habits in Yoga
Niyamas (Sanskrit: नियम, romanized: niyama) are positive duties or observances. In Dharma, particularly Yoga, niyamas and their complement, yamas, are recommended activities and habits for healthy living, spiritual enlightenment, and a liberated state of existence. It has multiple meanings depending on context in Hinduism. In Buddhism, the term extends to the determinations of nature, as in the Buddhist niyama dhammas.
Etymology
Niyama (नियम) is derived from the Sanskrit root niyam (नियम्) which means "to hold". Thus, niyama translates to "rule", "observances", or "practices of self-restraint".
Hinduism
Within the Yoga school of Hindu philosophy, niyamas are described in the eight limbs (steps; ashtanga yoga) of yoga. Niyama is the second limb which includes virtuous habits, behaviors, and observances (the "dos"). These virtues and ethical premises are considered in Hinduism as necessary for an individual to achieve a liberation or moksha.
Five niyamas
In Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, the five niyamas are listed as:
Shaucha (शौच): external (the body) and internal (the mind) purity.
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This entry incorporates text from “Niyama” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.