“Cleanliness is indeed next to godliness” John Wesley
As the first Niyama or internal observance, Saucha focuses on cleanliness, specifically in the mind, of the body, and also maintaining a clean environment. Mind clutter and home clutter lead to fuzzy brain thinking - it’s no wonder these two are correlated and necessary on the path to "clearing the mind-stuff."
When we keep our temples clean, it allows us the possibility to connect with the divine. This can be seen as easily as showering and bathing daily and other self hygiene practices like sensory organ care. The digestive tract in Ayurveda can be a location of stagnancy or staleness when overwhelmed or full, keeping the digestion in tip-top shape is a reflection of Saucha and how clean internal systems are more comfortable. In Mark Nepo’s book The Book of Awakening, an older woman says, “Got a dirty window, see a dirty world,” and this is in effect Saucha of the mind. If your thoughts are tainted with negativity and black clouds, then everything you see or perceive will be tainted in that manner as well.
Interestingly enough, it’s hard to keep our mind and environment clean and get this - this reveals what you have attachments to. Possibly taking a keen eye through the lenses of Asteya and Aparigraha are necessary to purge and to seek more divine healing. This is echoed in Marie Kondo's book, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up.
Off of the mat, Saucha can be seen in the common phrase of “coming clean” with ones surpressed thoughts or emotions. This cleans out the pent up emotional blockages in the heart, mind and soul. Also, grieving a loved one is very heart and mind clearing, necessary for identity evolution and moving on, or letting go, as seen in Aparigraha. When we apologize for a wrong doing, this cleans the karmic slate for whatever wrong was done and is also a little knock down on the ego (we want that, we want to knock out the ego). Something simple to do - always have one table or desk that is clean in your home office, this can be symbolism for when you need a mental break, you can put your things here and then reorganize them later, maybe even purge whatever isn't useful anymore.
On the mat, in Ashtanga Yoga, it’s recommended to have a vegan diet and shower before and after your yoga practices. That way, you approach your mat physically clean and when you sweat, the sweat doesn’t smell like "dead animals". Afterwards, you shower to rinse the salts and negative thoughts or energies that came up during practice. We can also see this when we use a mat cleaner to clean our mats off, having a clean studio, not wearing our shoes into a studio and being mindful of personal items around us when we practice.
It's easy to identify each Yama or Niyama individually, especially when they are defined in such broad ways. What are your growing edges with Saucha as this Niyama has been explained?
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