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Nurturing Yama and Niyama: Conscious and Community Oriented Yoga in The Valley

By Camille E. Dugan
The Valley Reporter

"Our mission statement at the Yoga Loft is to make yoga accessible to everyone and to be a conscientious contributing member of our community," explained Donna Boyle, the Yoga Loft founder and a certified Kripalu yoga teacher.

In December 2002, Boyle opened the Yoga Loft, located in Waitsfield's Bridge Street Marketplace, with the aim of guiding her students on journeys uniting body, mind and spirit in a safe, approachable yoga environment.

"It must be safe, that's my number one job," Boyle emphasized. Creating a safe class environment for yoga students from all ability levels is essential. Although some students practice consistently, more often people come to take a class only sporadically or once or twice a week after being hard at work, which is hardly conducive to a relaxed and flexible state of body and mind.

Boyle practices Kripalu yoga, which is "the yoga of consciousness." Boyle described it is "a tool for self-empowerment and personal growth. It teaches you to tap into your own inner knowing." Kripalu yoga is much more than mere posture flows and stretching. It is an inner journey during which a student must transcend the ego, and tap into their inner voice.

"It is all about surrendering to your inner self," said Boyle. "When you come to the yoga mat, I am a guide. I lay out a map but the students decide where they will go. My job is to get you to slow down enough to listen to your inner voice."

Practicing Kripalu yoga consists of exploring eight paths or "limbs." The first two are ethical in their nature: yama and niyama. Yama is the sandscript term encompassing concepts of social restraint such as non-violence, non-stealing, truthfulness, non-attachment and moderation. Niyama, also a sandscript term, refers to internal restraints including contentment, purity, self-study, discipline and surrender.

The third limb of yoga practice consists of posture flows and positions that can improve students' strength, balance and flexibility. Fourthly, yoga students learn about breath control. Fifthly, they can develop sense withdrawal, which comes only with concentration, the sixth limb of yoga.

The seventh limb of Kripalu yoga is meditation. Having mastered all seven limbs a yoga student will arrive at the eighth limb of yoga, divine oneness. These yoga gurus reach utter bliss.

For Boyle, nurturing the spiritual and ethical elements of yoga practice is a primary consideration. She has set up a sponsorship fund so that those unable to afford her classes can take them free of charge. "Anyone can contribute to the fund, but a lot of it comes from my own pocket, too," she said.

Boyle also is involved in mentoring local teens. Two young women, ages 16 and 17, take weekly classes with her for the only price Boyle would consider -- gratis. Boyle described, "One of these young women put together a proposal for Harwood so that her yoga study fulfills her gym requirement. I try to teach her about the postures but also the ethical aspects that are so fundamental for practice and life."

According to Boyle the program has been "working out wonderfully." She exclaimed, "It is amazing to see their improvement both physically and emotionally. I really enjoy nurturing this spiritual side. And working with teens gives me hope for the future."

The Yoga Loft has also been thriving and evolving. Boyle hopes to expand further this winter and offer more classes including a seated yoga class for the elderly. Boyle wants her classes to readily accessible to anyone, so she always offers variations and modifications that allow her students to either take their practice to a more advanced level or to back up to stay within their comfort zone.

"Offering modifications in my classes is important to my commitment in making yoga safe for everyone," she explained. To these ends, Boyle is continually researching and attending workshops to further her knowledge of yoga and to stay abreast of recent safety considerations. "It seems like month to month there are new positions considered unsafe to do now," she said.

In fact, Boyle recently attended a week-long workshop at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, located in Lenox, Massachusetts. Boyle completed her teacher training there two years before, and has studied there nearly 20 times. She has gone down to this particular yoga retreat and training center ten times to act as an assistant at various workshops. Acting as an assistant at workshops, enables Boyle to take them free of charge, although she must work hard to earn her way. Boyle explained that this is an expression of Karma yoga, which emphasizes "self-less service."

Boyle most recently assisted a workshop on "The Art of Class Design," from July 27 through August 1. This five-day workshop was headed by two well-known Kripalu teachers and offered the 26 participants the opportunity to explore all aspects of yoga.

Each morning the students attended a yoga class before studying class choreography and concepts from oral instruction for several hours until lunch. The intangible concepts that had been discussed the previous day during lectures became corporeal with each morning's yoga class.

After lunch, the participants attended more lectures, and in the evenings there were more yoga sessions. One particular evening they practiced devotional yoga complete with chanting, burning candles as well as thoughts about God and spirituality. "We spread the light and the energy," Boyle described. "There was such tremendous energy!"

The participants eat vegetarian breakfasts, lunches and dinners together in the dining chapel during the week. Breakfasts and lunch are both silent. Massage therapy is also offered.

For Boyle, attending this workshop has deepened her understanding of teaching yoga and inspired her to weave deeper life lessons into her classes. "I open my classes with meditations and introduce a theme," Boyle described. "Then I try to continue that thread throughout the postures. We talk about concepts like nonviolence and relaxation, which is then a natural continuation in the postures. Are the postures hurting you? Are you mentally judging yourself harshly? Then in closing I encourage them to take these lessons of nonviolence and self-study into their daily lives." She concluded, "In my classes I want my students to contemplate other things."

"I am putting my skill out into the universe. I want to integrate the ethical and spiritual components of yoga into my teen mentoring," Boyle described. "Yoga is ultimately about creating a more conscious and compassionate world."