Planet Green writes a lot about how yoga can improve your health but also green your mind. Check it out:
In many ways the greenest part of yoga, the deeper you go into your practice, isn't what happens to your body or your health, but what happens to your mind. Each of yoga's traditional yamas (restraints) and niyamas (practices) have direct implication for how you view the natural world and how you act towards it.
Depending on which of Hinduism's sacred texts you read and which lineage of teachers you ask there are anywhere from five to ten yamas and niyamas, but in the tradition I am closest to it's taught that there are ten of each, so that's what this and subsequent posts will go into. Entire volumes could be written on each one, expounding upon its implications, but I'll try to keep this as concise as possible.
Non-Injury is the Gateway to More Aware, Greener Living
The first yama is Ahimsa or non-injury, sometimes translated as non-violence. It many ways it is the overarching guide for all action and each other yama is a variation on this theme.
Non-injury goes beyond not physically harming others, but also includes not harming them in thought and word as well. It is practiced knowing that any harm that you put out into the world unfailingly comes back to you. At its core is an acknowledgement that all life--human, non-human, sentient and insentient--is to be revered. One does not hurt what one reveres.
Vegetarian Diet a Central Part
The most obvious outgrowth of ahimsa as it relates to the green sphere is following a vegetarian diet, one free of any animal product which requires the killing of the animal--though in many traditions eggs too are prohibited.
Modern vegans may take this to the next step and eliminate all animal products entirely, but the original yoga texts do not take diet this far. There is a good discussion to be had about whether or not today's commercial dairy practices, even ones which portray themselves as humane, really are acceptable under the principle of ahimsa, but that will have to wait for another post.
This is just one example of how there is some grey area involved here. Even a person following a strictly vegan diet kills insects while growing vegetables, sometimes unintentionally while tilling the soil, other times intentionally when insects become pests.
We Are All at Different Places in Life, Which is Perfect
Everyone has to set their own boundaries here, and those may well change over time, but strictly speaking one cannot claim to fully practice ahimsa if you eat meat.
You can certainly concoct examples that would be exceptions to this, but in the overwhelming majority of situations in all but the most extreme climates, it holds true.
Which sounds harsh, but that's not the intent. Indeed talking down or judging others who don't follow ahimsa particularly well itself would, most strictly, be a violation of non-injury. You may be well along the path towards constant observance of ahimsa, but not everyone is and that's fine.
Unkind Words, Comments a Form of Hurting
Just some of the other green implications of practicing ahimsa: The protection of animal habitat is obvious, as is not polluting the environment. Perhaps less obvious is using excess electricity, buying goods you know are produced in poor working conditions, or even leaving unkind comments in the forums or on a post. Remember, we are talking non causing hurt, pain, injury or even fear by thought, word, or deed.
One more thing: Practicing ahimsa, really considering it as much as possible and integrating it into your being, is one the most powerful steps you can take to green your life.
Practicing Ahimsa Changes Your Whole Life
While my own boundaries have shifted towards stricter and looser interpretations over the years (recently towards the former), it begins to soften you, make you more accepting, make you more compassionate, make you more aware of your actions and the effects they have.
That last one perhaps is the most important one. We have largely gotten into our current environmental problems by not fully considering that impact of our actions on the natural world. By practicing ahimsa you take the first step to correct that.
