Brahmacarya: Using Our Energy for Long Term Good.

Moderation of the sense drives.

Brahmacarya is the fourth of the yamas & is generally translated as continence or moderation of sense drives. Through this yama, we are called to begin the loosening of our attachment to external fulfillment of the senses & moderate how we use our energy. 

Traditionally, this has often been translated as relating specifically to sexual energy. The original yogi’s would have remained celibate, instead conserving this creative energy for their spiritual practice. For the modern practitioner however, this would more likely translate into mindful use of sexual energy & refraining from situations where the use of this may be an unhealthy exchange. In turn, this energy may be transmuted into energy for practice, work, writing & other things which we feel would bring us into a place of greater harmony & balance.

More broadly, we may look into how we use our energy generally, whether how we use our energy genuinely benefits us long term. As the yamas are translated as abstinences, we should look into what we could begin to abstain from, where we need to be creating better boundaries within ourselves & our relationships. It may be that we've been expending too much of our energy outwards & into other people without giving ourselves time to really look within. Or we may find that the type of media we've been consuming hasn't been stimulating our development so we may begin to abstain from this, giving us more energy to better pursue our purpose.