Yamas & Niyamas
yama · niyamaThe "ethics of yoga": five restraints and five observances, the first two of the eight limbs. Each of the ten has its own entry below.
Before posture and breath, the eight-limbed path opens with two lists of conduct. The first five, the yamas, are restraints toward others:
The five restraints are the don'ts: no harming, no lying, no stealing, continence, and no grasping (both translators render the last as refusing gifts and acquisitions).
“Non-killing, truthfulness, non-stealing, continence, and non-receiving are called Yamas.”
The original Sanskrit
ahiṃsāsatyāsteyabrahmacaryāparigrahā yamāḥ
The second five, the niyamas, are observances toward yourself:
The five observances are the dos: cleanliness, contentment, disciplined effort, study, and devotion. Woods reads the last as devotion to the Lord (Īśvara).
“Internal and external purification, contentment, mortification, study, and worship of God are the Niyamas.”
The original Sanskrit
śaucasaṃtoṣatapaḥsvādhyāyeśvarapraṇidhānāni niyamāḥ
Yoga's own order of operations, visible right in the text: how you treat people comes before how you hold a pose.