YAMAS & NIYAMAS & Beauregard – the Yogi Cat

by Sharon Kirchner

A cat is a philosophical, methodical animal, tenacious of his own habits, fond of order and neatness, and disinclined to extravagant sentiment.

When I read the above written by Theophile Gautier, these words of praise immediately brought to mind the Yamas and Niyamas of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras which we have been inspired by in our yoga studies course. The five Yamas and five Niyamas are essentials in a yogi’s life – they are goals to aspire to in order to live an harmonious life.

Now I have always respected my cat Beauregard’s talent for asana and pranayama. He does a beautiful Marjarisana (cat pose) and his favourite asana of course is Shavasana (corpse pose). His breathing is the full yogic breath and occasionally he does Bhramari (bumble bee breath) to show love and affection. But how would Beauregard stack up against the Yamas and Niyamas I wondered?

We’ll start with the Yamas which are the five social codes which help the yogi harmonise interactions with others.

1. Ahimsa – non violence. To avoid harm to all living creatures by thought word or deed.  Well I must admit that Ahimsa is not his strong point. Any tailless lizard in my back garden will attest to the fact that Beauregard can be violent. These samskaras I figured were deeply ingrained from previous cat lives where he needed to kill to survive. But non-violence must also be practiced by the yogi to him or herself as well. And here Beauregard excels. His air of quiet confidence (which some might interpret as insufferable superiority) shows no sign of a cat beating up on himself.  

1. Satya – truth the highest rule of conduct or morality. Truthfulness in thought, word and deed.   P G Wodehouse wrote “The trouble with cats is that they’ve got no tact.” Is it a lack of tact – or are cats just being truthful?  Being true to yourself is another aspect of truthfulness and Beauregard is definitely that. He doesn’t care enough about your opinion to be anything other than himself.

1. Asteya – non stealing. I have not witnessed this behaviour in my feline friend – but could it be that my vegetarian food doesn’t elicit the necessary challenge? Neither is he into stealing on more subtle levels such as stealing another’s self-confidence or their joy. He inspires joy.

1. Brahmacharya – chastity or continence. Now Beauregard doesn’t have to try too had in this regard as the local vet has taken care of this for him.  But Brahmacharya doesn’t concern itself just with sexual moderation. All body energies and creative forces should be conserved and used wisely. And this he does par excellence. All that lying around in Shavasana  -  that’s not laziness you know --- Oh! No No. That’s Beauregard conserving his life force.

1. Aparigraha – non-possessiveness – non attachment. How do you spell cat?  A – p – a – r – i – g – r – a – h – a. 

So on a quick run through the Yamas, Beauregard is shaping up quite well. A bit more work on Ahimsa would definitely not go astray but he is truthful to a fault, hasn’t been known to steal, is chaste and definitely practices non attachment to a very high degree.

And now to the Niyamas which are the five personal disciplines which help harmonise the mind.

1. Saucha – purity and cleanliness. First rule of thumb in the cat world – when in doubt – wash.  But Saucha doesn’t only refer to physical cleanliness but to cleansing the mind of disturbing emotions, like hatred, anger, lust, greed, delusion and pride. (He was going well until the ‘pride’ word was mentioned).

1. Santosa – refers to contentment. Beauregard’s contentment with life, his sheer joy in living, just bubbles up out of him in unrestrained purring When you feel the vibration of his deep rumbling purr, you can feel the waves of his contentment wash over you and it’s contagious.

1. Tapas – austerity and a burning effort under all circumstances to achieve a definite goal in life. Now Beauregard’s goal in life is to get into my bed at night - bodily comfort being his prime goal. He hasn’t slept alone since he chose to live with me so he definitely has a handle on Tapas.

1. Svadhyaya – study or education of the self. Beauregard  can sit for hours with his eyes lightly closed in the mysterious pose of the Sphinx. What goes on in his mind is anyone’s guess but I personally think he is in commune with his higher self. He looks so dignified and all knowing – just quietly meditating on life.

1. Isvara Pranidhana  - Surrrender to a higher power – letting go of ego. Seeing him at the window transfixed by autumn leaves gently floating to the ground or watching him lying in Shavasana with the sun on his belly, is to observe a cat totally surrendering to a higher power and loving it.

In terms of the Niyamas, Beauregard is definitely on the yogic path. As Fernand Mery has remarked:

      With the qualities of cleanliness, discretion, affection, patience, dignity and courage that cats have, how many of us, I ask you, would be capable of being cats?