Saucha: Purify Your Mind and Body.

Before diving deep into the meaning of Saucha, let me give you a little introduction.

In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali lays out an 8-limbed path of yoga, which is a guideline for how to live a meaningful and purposeful life. The first two limbs outline the ethical foundation of the path. The 5 Yamas are about living in the right relationship with others, whereas the Niyamas are personal observances or attitudes towards ourselves.

The Niyamas arrive on the shoulders of the Yamas and act as support for the ultimate work of behaving and conducting oneself with integrity. As you work on yourself, you instill a set of values that lend themselves to a deeper practice.

The first of the Niyamas, Saucha, is translated as purity or cleanliness. If your mind and body are impure, not only can you not behave in an upright manner, but transcendence is impossible. The body is the vehicle for how you experience this life, and it must be taken care of, but your thoughts, actions, and mental habits must also be attended to.

In effect with Saucha, you are polishing your heart into a mirror, so it truly reflects who you are. Most importantly, mirrors require constant polishing to retain their reflective qualities.

The Difference Between Pure and Clean

There is a difference between something that is clean and something that is pure. You can have a glass of milk that is pure and a glass of water that is pure. If you mix them, they are no longer pure, but they are not unclean.

If something is clean, it is free of dirt; but if something is pure, it is free of flaws.

Of course, cleanliness is part of Saucha. For practicality’s sake, this includes showering, brushing your teeth, and cleaning your house. However, it also means working to maintain a clean mind and heart. It is a never-ending job, as nothing is in a state of absolute cleanliness.

According to the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, the body must undergo a process of purification to purify the mind. It instructs six different types of purifications for six different impurities.

Once cleaned, the Nadis (energy channels through which life force energy or prana travels) can function, and thus the energy blocks are released. The body must be cleansed internally from time to time to help facilitate this flow.

When the energy patterns in the body are more in balance, you can bring your mind into focus. When Prana is scattered, so is the mind. In the end, self-control and self-discipline start with the body. Such discipline can then be applied to other pursuits.

Bringing Saucha into Your Daily Routine

Saucha in Your Diet: Eating Cleanly

A weak body cannot support a strong mind. Maintaining the cleanliness of the body is vital for avoiding disease and for one’s overall well-being.

Pure food must be consumed and in moderation. In our modern-day life, we consume many artificial and adulterated ingredients. Alcohol, drugs, and pollutants, that not only harm the body but also the state of mind.

Do you ever hear of being hangry or HALT (hungry, angry, lonely, and tired)? These terms insinuate the connection between the mind and body.

Scientifically, we know that the gut and brain are in constant communication. Your gut contains millions of neurons, which are connected to your brain through nerves in your nervous system. The vagus nerve is one of the biggest nerves connecting your gut and brain. It sends signals in both directions.

Your gut and brain are also connected through chemicals called neurotransmitters that are produced in the brain and control feelings and emotions. Many of these neurotransmitters are also produced by your gut cells and the trillions of microbes living there. These microbes play an important role in your immune system and inflammation in your body.

It is important to feed the microbiome good prebiotics, composed mostly of fiber, and stay away from too much sugar and processed food. It can lead to dysbiosis. Too much caffeine, alcohol, or drugs will disturb your chemical balance, causing agitation and mental distraction. A clean diet supports a strong mind and body.

A clean environment and clean mind are two ways to practice saucha. (Photo by Geetanjal Khanna on Unsplash)

Saucha in Your Environment: Keep Your Surroundings Clean

Cleanliness in your environment also affects the way you experience life. A clean kitchen, bathroom, or any room can make you feel more comfortable and energized.

Mowing the lawn, picking up leaves, plowing the snow, picking up litter, or anything that contributes to the cleanliness of your community benefits everyone. Clearing clutter and being organized can make you feel calm, happier, and more in control.

A clean and tidy space opens you up to possibilities. When things are in order, an energetic path has cleared towards personal development.

Saucha in your mind: cultivate a pure mind

The real work begins when it comes to purifying the mind, emotions, and mental habits. To the yogi, Avidya pollutes you.

Avidya is the first of the five klesas, or obstacles, that keep you in a negative mental state. Avidya is thought of as the root cause of our pain and suffering, and it’s what keeps us on the wheel of conditioned existence.

Avidya is known as “ignorance,” but it is more a lack of insight or not being with life as it is. It is a state of mind and body unengaged with the present moment.

Sutra 2.5 explains avidya as: “anitya-aśuci-duḥkha-anātmasu nitya-śuci-sukha-ātman-khyātir avidyā.” (Ignorance is regarding the impermanent as permanent, the impure as pure, the painful as pleasant, and non-Self as the Self.) It is not seeing things as they are. If left unconscious, it leads to unskillful actions.

Yoga is meant to develop a deep sense of self-awareness to help you see your habit patterns. Yoga practice is meant to bring attention to the body, along with the movements of the breath, but not separate from the heart and mind.

To purify the mind of greed, hatred, delusion, and to be kind, honest, grateful, and generous, is an act of inner purification.

Mindfulness lays the groundwork for Saucha

Mindfulness is about paying attention to what is happening in the present moment in the mind, body, and external environment. However, it is done with an attitude of kindness and curiosity. More importantly, you do it with a willingness to be with what is.

With time, you notice the habits of the mind. You learn to restore attention so that you can not only regulate your emotions but relate to them differently by allowing them to arise and then pass away.

The practice trains you to not be confused. It trains you to see the impermanent as impermanent, the impure as impure, and the painful as painful. By noticing moment to moment that everything is arising and passing away, it reorients your mind toward care and loving-kindness rather than toward clinging and holding on.

You can cultivate the positive emotions of friendliness, compassion, equanimity, and joy (see my Brahmaviharas post). Patanjali also advises, in his own way, a strategy of countering the negative and reframing such thoughts.

In Sutra 2.33, “vitarka-bādhane pratiprakṣa-bhāvanam,” (Upon being harassed by negative thoughts, one should cultivate counteracting thought0, he’s advising not to berate yourself for having such thoughts, but simply to learn to cultivate the opposite thoughts.

This is a form of self-compassion. You are not to be hard on yourself but notice and change the channel. In the end, the authentic practice of yoga is an unremitting attention to the present experience. Thus, cultivating a mind that is willing to do so and, with a compassionate heart, requires cleaning up, or Saucha.

Patanjali seals the deal in Sutra 2. 41, “sattva-śuddhiḥ saumanasya-ikāgry-endriyajaya-ātmadarśana yo agyatvāni ca,” (Upon the purification of the mind, [one attains] cheerfulness, one-pointedness, sense control, and fitness to perceive the self).

Keeping your body, food, clothing and space clean is a great first step toward incorporating saucha.

Ways to practice Saucha:

Here are six ways you can begin practicing saucha in your daily life.

1.) Keep your outer body, food, clothing, and living space clean.

2.) Cleanse the inner body with the 6 shatkarmas: The outer body is easy, but the inner body must also be cleansed from time to time:

a. Neti: cleansing of the nasal passages;

b. Dhauti: cleansing of the digestive tract;

c. Basti: cleansing of the large intestine;

d. Nauli: cleansing of the abdominal organs;

e. Kapalbhati: Cleansing of the frontal lobes of the brain through the breath;

3.) Practice mindfulness: To understand the mind, you must witness the habits of the mind. Simple attention to the breath will bring you to the present moment.

4.) Be true to yourself. Be natural. When you can be your authentic self with no mask or armor, you are pure.

5.) Be clear and clean with your words and thoughts. These come from the heart. The practice is to purify this. As the Buddha said, “Whatever one thinks and ponders upon, thus the mind inclines.”

6.) Practice the Brahmaviharas: These help you to cultivate a heart full of kindness, joy, compassion, and equanimity, free of greed, hatred, and delusion.

Practice saucha in this way, and you will be joyful, caring, accepting, and true to yourself. This is yoga

Keep practicing Saucha in your daily life

In the end, the practice is never-ending. Just like there will always be laundry and dishes, the mind, body, and heart need continual care and cleansing.

As you have the habit of a daily shower, you must strive to develop a habit of Saucha in thoughts, words, and actions. You must take care of your body inside and out.

Give it pure food. Take care of your home and environment. Be aware of your thoughts and mental habits. Work to cultivate a mind that is willing to be in the present moment and a heart filled with kindness and compassion.

The work is to truly polish your heart into a mirror that reflects your true nature. Remember, even in the best-tended gardens, weeds pop up. That’s why it’s called practice. At its core, the whole of yoga is included in the simple word, Saucha.

If you want help implementing Saucha, I’ll be glad to help you. Feel free to email me: sharyn@truenorthwell.com.

Saucha: Purify Your Mind and Body