"It is only when we understand the pursuit of sensation, which is one of the major activities of the mind, that pleasure, excitement and violence cease to be a dominant feature in our lives" Jiddu Krishnamurti
Creation of moderation in all activities and withdrawing from excess is the general rule of thumb when talking about Brahmacharya but, it gets a lot of shiny attention with the word celibacy and abstinence too. I hope I can explain to you why..
A direct quote and translation of Sutra 2.38 is about Brahmachayra and says "Upon the establishment of celibacy, power is attained." and this is from The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by Edwin Bryant.
The biggest principle of yoga is to create and maintain balance and when we do this, we can break the bonds that tie us to our addictions, negative patterns and sickly habits. Practicing moderation can conserve energy and this can then be applied to achieving a higher state of spiritual practice. When we conserve our energy and we don't indulge into these habits and patterns, we become more creative.
Creative energy is stored and is comfortably located at the second chakra or sacral chakra. Sacral for sacrum, which is located posteriorly, the second chakra is also responsible for sex organ regulation and health in addition to pleasure, discerning likes versus dislikes, and creativity when it comes to physical expression of art, music, dance, etc. When we vow to a duration of conserving sexual energy, odds are that energy will come out in some other method of creativity. Don't believe it? Take an introspective look into your world or, look at some of the best and most talented artists there are. Several years back letters from Vincent van Gogh to a friend of his revealed that "Van Gogh adamantly believed that too much sexual activity detracts from your work...He believed sexual activity depletes you." according to a curator who organized the works in NYC for the art exhibit in 2015.
Let's imagine Thanksgiving Dinner, you've just completed your first plate of turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing, cranberries, another casserole and starch or two.. and now you are looking around and wondering "do I have the energy to clear my plate and get another helping or is this it?" It's about time to unbutton the first button in your pants if you know what I mean! You just gorged on the biggest family meal, and now and over the next few hours, there will be a little lethargy, digestional distress and suffering in the ways of guilt. At this time, Brahmacharya was not honored and eating until the gluttonous state has been met. This is stale, stagnant, non-moving energy. The thought of getting up to walk several paces seems impossible, never-mind running a 5K or painting a masterpiece.
What Brahmacharya is promoting is "all good things in moderation." Yogis and Sages do believe that sex is healthy and necessary for procreation. They believe that anything to excess will cause ama which is stagnant and non-moving energy. If energy is not moving and it's stagnant, it enables more inflammatory responses to ignite which then leads to disease.
On the mat, Brahmacharya could be demonstrated in just going to one yoga class a day instead of two. It could be withdrawing and not purchasing yet another yoga tank top because you have some already. Brahmacharya could be seen as setting your mat up in an orderly fashion as to not "hog" the whole room.
Off of the mat it can be passing on second helpings, only eating when you are hungry, politely declining another helping or another order of food, etc. Brahmacharya can be seen while driving - not speeding to excess, not taking up more than one parking spot, not tailgating and taking up your room to safely stop. If you are effectively taking more space than you should, this goes against Asteya, or non-stealing. In our examples with drivers, you are putting yourself and the other passengers in harm's way (Ahimsa) and you are also not storing the potential energy that you could need (ie, the space between the cars).
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