On the Niyamas, Mental Health and Yoga with Dr Lauren Tober
While the last two episodes were on the yamas, on how we engage with the world, in this one, we turn inward to the niyamas, on how we relate to ourselves.
We look at the five niyamas not as a self-improvement checklist or an impossible ideal to measure ourselves against, but as practical ways of tending our inner world with awareness, clarity and care.
In this episode, we explore:
- Sauca as clarity rather than purity and how it shapes the spaces we teach in and the way we tend to our own inner world
- Why cleanliness and purity can quietly tip over into shame, and the importance of ahimsa
- Santosha, contentment, and why choosing it is a quietly radical act
- The science of gratitude, and how it can help to down-regulate the nervous system
- Tapas, the inner fire, and why it is never about self-punishment
- Svadhyaya, self-study, and the discernment that only you can make about when to push and when to rest
- Isvarapranidhana, surrender, and making this niyama accessible for those for whom the language of God feels difficult
- How the niyamas keep our practice and our teaching resourcing rather than depleting
Download the accompanying Patanjali’s Eight Limbs and Mental Health Aware Yoga ebook
Join the online Mental Health Aware Yoga training in September
LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS, SPOTIFY + EVERY WHERE YOU FIND GREAT PODCASTS
Dr Lauren Tober (she/her) is a Clinical Psychologist, Yoga Teacher, founder of the Yoga Psychology Institute, host of the A Grateful Life podcast and author of Mental Health Aware Yoga: A Guide for Yoga Teachers.
Lauren developed the Mental Health Aware Yoga training to help yoga teachers make their classes safe, nourishing and transformative for all.
FOR THE SEEKERS
COMMUNITY
FREE EBOOK
The information provided on this blog is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice.
Please consult a qualified healthcare professional for personalised guidance or come and join one of our programs for professional training.
Any statements, claims or endorsements expressed by our guest authors, speakers and podcast sponsors are solely their own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Mental Health Aware Yoga and the Yoga Psychology Institute.
MENTAL HEALTH AWARE YOGA
Ready to support your students' mental health with confidence, compassion and skill?
Join the hybrid training in Mullumbimby Australia. Start the online component today, then join us in-person on 17-18th October 2026.
Or join us for the online training starting the 16th of September instead.
MORE BLOG POSTS
On Ahimsa, Mental Health and Yoga with Dr Lauren Tober
Welcome to the first episode in a special five part pop-up series on Patanjali's eight limbs of yoga, exploring what...
On Interoception and the Wisdom of the Body with Dr Lauren Tober
Your throat tightens in a conversation, a few seconds before you've worked out why. You feel a flutter of anxiety in...
On Yoga as a Work-In, Not a Work-Out with Indu Arora
Some things are simple by nature and we tend to complicate them. Others are complex by nature and we dilute them. Indu...
BLOG CATEGORIES
Western Psychology
Yoga Psychology
Safe Container
Therapeutic Skills
Yoga Practices
Mental Health Crisis
JOIN OUR ONLINE SANGA
Are you on Facebook?
Awesome, so are we!
Come and join our brilliant community of like-mind Yoga Teachers and tune into (mostly) weekly video episodes with our founder Dr Lauren Tober.
It's all happening over in our FREE Facebook group.
MEET OUR FOUNDER
Hi, I'm Dr Lauren Tober!
As a Clinical Psychologist and Yoga Teacher of nearly two decades and the author of Mental Health Aware Yoga: A Guide for Yoga Teachers, I'm passionate about integrating yoga and psychology on the mat, in the counselling room and in the world.
With the growing interest in mental health and yoga, yoga students are attending yoga classes for the mental health benefits in unprecedented numbers.
In fact, 79.4% of yoga students report practicing yoga for the mental health benefits.
It's important that Yoga Teachers know how to support them.
I'm glad you're here.
LET'S STAY CONNECTED
Be the first to hear about online and world wide in-person trainings BEFORE registration opens
Receive your invitation to join our closed Mental Health Aware Yoga Facebook group for teachers
Download the Patañjali's Eight Limbs of Mental Health Aware Yoga ebook by Dr Lauren Tober