A 4-Week Online Journey Through the Yamas + Niyamas

Yoga is more than movement. At its roots, yoga is a way of living, a practice of becoming more intentional in how we relate to ourselves, to others, and to the world around us.

Living the Practice is a four-week online group journey inspired by Deborah Adele’s The Yamas & Niyamas: Exploring Yoga’s Ethical Practice. Together, we’ll explore the ten foundational principles of yoga philosophy and bring them into real life through reflection, meditation, gentle movement, guided conversation, and community practice.

These teachings invite us to ask deeper questions:

Where am I giving my energy away?

What am I holding onto that is ready to be released?

How do I cultivate contentment without becoming passive?

What does it mean to live in alignment with what I say matters?

Yoga is more than movement. At its roots, yoga is a way of living, a practice of becoming more intentional in how we relate to ourselves, to others, and to the world around us.

Living the Practice is a four-week online group journey inspired by Deborah Adele’s The Yamas & Niyamas: Exploring Yoga’s Ethical Practice. Together, we’ll explore the ten foundational principles of yoga philosophy and bring them into real life through reflection, meditation, gentle movement, guided conversation, and community practice.

What We’ll Explore:

Across four 90-minute live sessions, we’ll move through all ten yamas and niyamas:

Session 1: Ahimsa + Satya
Nonviolence + Truthfulness

Exploring self-compassion, inner dialogue, honesty, and what it means to live without abandoning ourselves.

Session 2: Asteya + Brahmacharya
Nonstealing + Nonexcess

Looking at time, energy, attention, comparison, overconsumption, boundaries, and where “enough” begins.

Session 3: Aparigraha + Saucha + Santosha
Nonpossessiveness + Purity + Contentment

Exploring attachment, simplicity, clearing space, gratitude, acceptance, and our relationship with wanting.

Session 4: Tapas + Svadhyaya + Ishvara Pranidhana
Self-Discipline + Self-Study + Surrender

Bringing together committed action, self-awareness, humility, trust, and the wisdom of knowing when to act, and when to release control.

Each gathering will weave together:

Meditation

creating space to slow down and listen inward

Gentle Yoga + Embodiment

moving the teachings out of the intellectual mind and into lived experience

Yogic Philosophy

exploring the yamas and niyamas in clear, accessible language

Reflection + Journaling

noticing where these principles already live in your life

Guided Group Conversation

learning through community, perspective, and honest dialogue

Practical Integration

choosing small, grounded ways to practice the teachings between sessions

This is not about perfecting yourself.

It is about becoming more aware of the patterns shaping your life, and learning how to choose with greater intention.

“Sangha reminds us that we do not have to walk the path alone; we awaken through belonging, reflection, and the courage we share with one another.”
The Yamas & Niyamas by Deborah Adele

The Book we’ll be using:

The Yamas & Niyamas: Exploring Yoga’s Ethical Practice by Deborah Adele

The book offers an approachable and practical exploration of yoga’s first two limbs: the five yamas and five niyamas.

You do not need to be an experienced yogi or have a background in yoga philosophy to join. The teachings are designed to meet you where you are.

Dates:

Sunday, November 8
Sunday, November 15
Sunday, November 22
Sunday, December 6

4 weeks • 90 minutes each • Online via Zoom

Investment:

$200: Return to Rhythm retreat participants
$300: Public

We also offer a pay-what-you-can option when needed because we want this work to remain accessible.

Who This Is For

This circle is for anyone who wants to:

—bring more intention into everyday life
—deepen their relationship with yoga beyond the physical practice
—explore values, boundaries, truth, discipline, contentment, and surrender
—reconnect with themselves after a period of transition
—build more awareness around habitual patterns
—practice in community rather than trying to “figure it all out” alone
—create a more embodied relationship with what they already know intellectually

You do not need to have attended a Return to Rhythm retreat to join.

Why This Work Matters

At Return to Rhythm, we believe transformation does not happen only in extraordinary moments.

It happens in the way we speak to ourselves on an ordinary Tuesday, in the boundaries we keep, the things we consume, commitments we honor, truth we are willing to tell, relationships we tend, and the ways we rest, & the things we finally allow ourselves to release.

The yamas and niyamas offer a timeless framework for this kind of practice. They remind us that yoga is not something we do for an hour on our mats. It is a way of being in relationship, with the body, with other people, with the Earth, and with the life we are creating.

Living the Practice is an invitation to bring the wisdom off the mat and into the life you are actually living.

If you’re feeling called inward, this is your invitation to answer.

Join a small, supportive circle for deeper reflection, connection, and practical return to your own inner wisdom.