Through the years of philosophical curiosity I’ve been captured by three steams of inquiry – Yoga, Existentialism & Mindfulness. While each of these bring enormous depth the surface of which I’ve barely scratched, I’ll continue to explore what is very much a practice in progress.
Rather than being a dogma I’m presently sitting with the notion that these frames offer us a way that we might act in the world with integrity (Yamas), cultivate inner awareness (Niyamas), make conscious choices informed by our environment, relationships and circumstances (existential philosophy) and remain awake to them moment-to-moment (mindfulness). Woven throughout is the notion that authenticity is not optional but the heart of this quest for personal integration.
The ethical framework of the first two limbs of the yogic path — the Yamas (restraints) and Niyamas (observances) as laid out by Patañjali in the Yoga Sūtras — can be interpreted through an existential-philosophical lens and then enriched by the Buddhist practice of mindfulness. In Patanjali’s frame the Yamas (ahiṃsā – non-harming; satya – truth; asteya – non-stealing; brahmacharya – moderation; aparigraha – non-grasping) direct our behaviour toward others, while the Niyamas (śauca – purity; santoṣa – contentment; tapaḥ – discipline; svādhyāya – self-study; īśvara-praṇidhāna – surrender) orient us inward.
An existential therapy perspective suggests that the human condition is characterised by freedom, responsibility, anxiety, meaning-making and authenticity. The Yamas/Niyamas then are not simply moral commandments but existential commitments: to live deliberately, to choose who one becomes in relation to self and world, and to shape one’s being-in-the-world with integrity.
In the Buddhist tradition, mindfulness (Pāli sati) is embedded into a broader ethical-meditative framework: the Noble Eightfold Path. Mindfulness is seventh in the list (sammā sati) and operates alongside right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, and right concentration. Early texts such as the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta present mindfulness through the four foundations (body, felt sense, mind, phenomena) as a method of penetrating the nature of experience and thereby transforming one’s moral-cognitive orientation. Crucially, recent scholarship emphasises that mindfulness in Buddhism cannot be detached from ethics: mindful awareness is intertwined with discerning wholesome from unwholesome states. In contemporary Western usage, Jon Kabat‑Zinn brought mindfulness into secular therapeutic and medical settings, emphasising presence, awareness of moment-to-moment experience, and reduction of reactivity. But one must note: this popularised version often omits the explicitly moral/ethical contexts of classical Buddhist practice.
When we place these three frames together — yogic ethics, existential philosophy and Buddhist mindfulness— a rich picture emerges:
- The Yamas/Niyamas provide a structured ethical-existential grammar: how one acts in relation to others (Yamas) and how one cultivates inner self-relation and discipline (Niyamas).
- The existential perspective invites us to regard these as choices of being: to live authentically, to face the givens of existence (freedom, finitude, meaning). The ethical observances become vehicles of existential engagement rather than mere rules.
- Mindfulness — in its Buddhist ethical context — offers the phenomenological awareness necessary for these commitments to be lived. Mindfulness ensures that one’s actions (Yamas) and self-attitudes (Niyamas) are grounded in present-moment awareness, clarity of motives, and ethical sensitivity (e.g., noticing when one’s non-harming falters, or when one is not content but grasping). Kabat-Zinn’s approach provides an accessible bridge into this practice, though with the caveat that the ethical dimension must not be lost.
Now, bringing in Cleary: Skye Cleary’s work focuses heavily on authenticity as a key existential concern. She argues that authentic living is not about discovering a fixed true self but about creating one through one’s choices, commitments and relationships. In her book How to Be Authentic: Simone de Beauvoir and the Quest for Fulfilment she articulates how authenticity involves both freedom and responsibility — one must act, but recognise the situatedness of one’s being (facticity) and one’s inter-relation with others. Authentic freedom is not solitary: it is embedded in the social, historical, and ethical world. Authenticity therefore is not licence but a disciplined project of self-creation and ethical action. Cleary emphasises that “authenticity is a process of self-creation, challenging the notion of a true self.” She notes that “to be authentic is to live in pursuit of self-creation and self-renewal, with many different paths towards diverse goals.” (Goodreads summary). She further asserts, via Beauvoir’s reading, that we need to pay attention to our obligations to others: “Authenticity is about forging our own paths, but it doesn’t mean we get to do whatever we like. For Beauvoir, freedom without responsibility is meaningless.” Thus, in relation to the Yamas/Niyamas, Cleary offers a blending of existential authenticity with ethical responsibility: the Yamas/Niyamas can be seen as structure within which we pursue our authentic self-creation — not as constraints to freedom, but as forms of freedom oriented by care, relation, and responsibility. In this integrated view, we practise the Yamas/Niyamas (ethical-existential commitments), remain mindful of our moment-to-moment choices and inner states (mindfulness), and draw from existential philosophy to frame our lives as meaning-making projects of authentic being.
In sum: The Yamas and Niyamas serve as ancient yogic ethical commitments mapping how we ought to be in relation to self and others. Existential philosophy (especially Cleary’s emphasis on authenticity) invites us to take those commitments as existential choices: to become the kind of being we choose to be. Buddhist mindfulness (and Kabat-Zinn’s popular approach) equips us with the attentive, practical ground of awareness in which these existential-ethical commitments can be lived. Together they form a coherent matrix: one acts in the world with integrity (Yamas), cultivates inner orientation (Niyamas), makes existentially conscious choices (existential philosophy) and stays awake to them moment-to-moment (mindfulness). Skye Cleary’s addition emphasises that authenticity is not optional but the heart of this integration: our freedom, our ethical commitments, our mindful awareness converge in the project of becoming ourselves in relation to others and the world we inhabit.
Bibliography:
Skye Cleary: How to Be Authentic: Simone de Beauvoir and the Quest for Fulfillment 2022
Skye Cleary: How to Live a Good Life: Choosing the Right Philosophy of Life for You 2020 Vintage 9780525567040 Co-editor with Massimo Pigliucci
Marlysa Sullivan : Understanding Yoga Therapy: Applied Philosophy and Science for Well-being 2020 Self-published –
Ernesto Spinelli: Practising Existential Therapy: The Relational World 2007 SAGE 2nd Edition
Frans Moors: The Viniyoga of Yoga: Applying Yoga for Healthy Living 2001 Self-published –
Co-author with T.K.V. Desikachar
T.K.V. Desikachar : The Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice 1995 Inner Traditions