Asteya

Asteya

The third yama, or moral code in yoga, is Asteya. Asteya means generosity, giving, prosperity.

This is one I have personally been working a ton on. I have a lot of beliefs ingrained in my DNA passed down from generations of middle class families, surrounding money. And money is a big part of asteya.

Maybe you experienced this as well and have heard some of my common phrases in your home:

“Money doesn’t grow on trees.”
“There’s not enough.”
“We can’t afford that.”
“You have to work hard to make money.”
I hear myself saying these same things I heard as a kid to my son today. I say these things to myself as an entrepreneur.

My work on Asteya and abundance or prosperity have been slowly changing my views. I’ve looked at my tendency toward thrifty-ness, breaking down the why’s behind how I spend money, saving for a “rainy day,” not spending on what I consider frivolous, but rather spending every penny wisely. This has been particularly challenging when I need to invest in my business, but because of my fears and past beliefs surrounding money, I won’t invest in my business because I am too uncertain on the return in investment. I am not willing to take risk. Though, I am a work in progress.

Another thing I evaluated in the realm of asteya is that as a wife, mother, niece, military spouse, and entrepreneur how do I GIVE my time and energy? So many of us play a lot of roles and we give and give and give to others, completely depleting ourselves until there is nothing left to give ourselves. Maybe this is one thing that the current shelter in place can do for us? Allow us time to re-evaluate how we spend our time.

We have to find balance in the giving and the receiving in order to obtain personal balance in asteya.

A careful balance of giving becomes easier when we realize that we live in an abundant universe that there is enough for all of us to live abundantly AND that it is our birthright to do so! Maybe our generosity right now is to stay safe and home and not spread a virus to those older or ill. Maybe our generosity is to lessen the load of impact we have made on our environment by retreating home to entertain ourselves more naturally?

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This week practice Asteya:
-Be patient with someone when you feel the urge to rush.
-Really give your full attention to someone and listen (put your phone down).
-Give someone a (virtual hug- sans COVID)
-Give a smile to a stranger or a grumpy person.
-Say a kind word to someone who wasn’t so nice to you.
-Make the abundance mudra, Adhara mudra, close your eyes and visualize your cup flowing over, filled with abundance.
-Consider how you can receive from others and offer gratitude for allowing yourself to receive without feeling bad or icky about it!

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