Mindful Living

During her Yoga Teacher Training journey, Hannah uncovered how attachment was limiting her life—and freedom.

In this article, she shares her reflections on the Yama Aparigraha - non-attachment.

Thank you so much for being so open and willing to share your journey Hannah.

Big love, 

Erin Lee
Lead Trainer & Founder
The Mindful Yoga School

A year on from beginning my Yoga Teacher Training, I remain struck by how much the Yama’s (ethical restraints) and Niyama’s (ethical observances) have transformed my life. 

They’re the morals of the Yoga path that I thought I already knew - and lived by. But I now realise my view of them was superficial and too literal e.g. Ahimsa (non-violence) = be vegetarian; Asteya (non-stealing) = don’t steal from shops!

I’ve now come to see that the Yamas are far more complex, interwoven and subtle. While each has a unique role to play, contemplation of the Yama Aparigraha (non-attachment) has been the most impactful on my life.

Aparigraha means letting go o...

If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.

~ Jack Kornfield

When I decided to do the Yoga Teacher Training 200hr program with The Mindful Yoga School, my aim was to be physically strong as well as flexible. I guess I wanted to prove that if someone who wasn’t very fit could do yoga, then surely others could too - and I could show them.

Hence, I was very focused on the physical challenge and imagined I'd be pushing my body during the training program.

What I didn’t realise was how deep we would end up delving into the workings of the Self - beyond just the physical body.

During our explorations of the Koshas (the five layers of the Self) and the Eight Limbs of Yoga, I came to learn so much about compassion - or at least my awareness grew to realise when I was or wasn’t being compassionate.

I was thirteen when I first heard of Ahimsa. I was watching the 1982 documentary Gandhi. I remember Mahatma Gandhi's determined, but peaceful resistance to oppression. H...