June 19, 2025, marks 160 years since federal troops entered Galveston, Texas, to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring the end of legal slavery in the United States. It also marks a much younger anniversary as the fourth year of celebrations of Juneteenth as a federal holiday, along with loud and sometimes fractious national conversations about social justice, diversity and inclusion, identity and political action. The yoga environment, too—whether large studio gatherings or more personal interactions—sometimes exhibits the tensions inherent in these exchanges. Many yoga students are asking themselves: “Where am I in this national conversation? Where is my work? What is my right action?” These questions might even resonate more loudly in these environments than in others, largely because of the yogic call toward mindfulness and ahimsa, non-harming interactions.

One of the beauties of yoga is its bounty; yoga offers many paths toward enlightenment. Meditation and pranayama, meditative breathing practices, can ease anxiety, as can restorative postures. More active physical practices can help dispel pent-up energies, energize a weary body-mind and bring clarity and focus. And yoga philosophy can help students reckon with broader social questions, such as how to interact with others in community and how to get to know ourselves and our direction in life.

The benefits of meditation and pranayama are familiar to many. Every week, it seems, brings another popular culture profile on the benefits of meditation. Pranayama-informed practices, such as box-breathing, are commonly mentioned in newspaper articles, sports performance profiles, even movie jokes. However, despite the growing prevalence of yoga in the West, its philosophical underpinnings are less well-known, and the guidance it provides on topics such as interpersonal interactions and personal improvement has made fewer inroads into Western culture.

Two key yogic texts are the Bhagavad Gita and the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Originating around 2500 to 3000 years ago, the texts offer overlapping, intersecting guidance on optimal personal and communal behavior in addition to spiritual guidance. Importantly, their teachings are practical, open-minded and allowing, and they acknowledge the difficulties of being human. They can be an extraordinary resource for all of humanity in times of conflict and question.  

The Bhagavad Gita’s Three Fundamentals of Right Action

The Gita, as it’s often called, consists of a conversation about enlightenment between the Divine—Krishna, in this case—and the young man, Arjuna. It is known for offering many definitions of “yoga,” and chief among them is “skillful action” (Gita 2.50). Indeed, the conversation begins with a plea from Arjuna to his God to direct his next right steps. “My mind is utterly confused,” he cries. “Tell me where my duty lies, which path I should take.” Arjuna’s plea resonates with how many feel in today’s socio-political environment.

Over many chapters, Krishna answers with increasing subtlety but repeatedly describes skillful action being underpinned by Viveka, or wisdom. Wisdom, the reader learns, is itself fortified by self-awareness and careful, sustained deliberation of one’s own attachments. Only by giving up attachment to the outcomes of one’s actions can those actions become skillful. In the Gita, however, the lesson reads: “Though the unwise cling to their actions, watching for results, the wise are free of attachments and act for the well-being of the whole world” (Gita 3.25). And “With no desire for success, no anxiety about failure, indifferent to results, [the student] burns up his actions in the fire of wisdom” (Gita 4.19).

Importantly, the teaching offers both personal benefits and benefits for all: the student is led to both personal and communal well-being through wise action. First, she frees herself to follow her own self-purpose and greater mission: “It is better to do your own duty badly than to perfectly do another’s; you are safe from harm when you do what you should be doing” (Gita 3.35). In doing so, the student who can lean into her own work and free herself from the inner critic of comparison and self-doubt can see herself in all beings and all beings in herself. Thus, she can develop connections that can heal old wounds, bridge divides and resolve conflict. As the Sutras say: “When [the student] has let go of attachments, when her mind is rooted in wisdom … When she realizes wisdom, she will never fall back into delusion; knowing it, she sees all beings in herself.” (Gita 4 excerpts).


If, in fact, so much of society’s pain today comes from a personal sense of disconnection and division, the Gita’s answer is that the path to connection is yoga’s skillful action.

Practical Advice From Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras

Patanjali’s yoga teachings also emphasize that wisdom and discernment are the foundation of right action. They are even more practical than the teachings of the Gita, especially in the second of the four collected parts, or “books,” of the treatise. For many yoga students, Books One and Two of Patanjali’s text offer ideal entry points to these teachings, particularly if they have any kind of complex relationship with religion or concepts of the divine.

Book Two is the most practically oriented of the four books—and, right from the start, the student is guided to adopt three tenets of yoga as skillful action: dedication to the work, careful inner contemplation, and an ultimate letting go (Y.S. 2.1). Additionally, Book One discusses
letting go and discipline or practice as the secrets to skillful action (Y.S. 1.12-16). Both the Gita and Patanjali’s Sutras suggest that the cycle of right action and detachment are key to any path to enlightened/connected behavior. The reader is given the lesson again and again, signaling the very real challenge of the endeavor. “This is hard work,” yoga philosophy teaches. “You must practice at this.” For students of yoga, it can be comforting that yoga philosophy recognizes how hard it can be to enact and sustain enlightened behavior.

Yet because it is hard work, Patanjali offers prescriptive guidance for living with oneself and others—just in case the student needs extra help—in two sets of conduct guidance codes called the yamas and niyamas. The yamas guide interaction with others and include concepts like non-harming, living in moderation and expressing honesty and integrity. The niyamas are more about personal accountability—they’re guidelines for showing up to life, to oneself and to being human. They’re pared back, simplified and necessary for tough times.

Where to Start?

Whether yoga philosophy is new terrain or well-worn territory, it can be beneficial to receive the guidance of wise scholars and experienced teachers, especially in times of uncertainty. For more information:

• Author Deborah Adele’s works on the yamas and niyamas offer an excellent starting point. In her books, the reader will find applicable examples and prompts to help bring these foundational principles into daily life.
• Embodying the Yoga Sutra by Ranju Joy and David Charlton includes specific chapters on the yamas and niyamas and offers the student applied practices related to bodily experiences of the philosophical concepts. This is an alternative approach to other beginners’ guides.
• In The Secret Power of Yoga, Nischala Joy Devi offers a unique translation of Patanjali’s Sutras that eschews direct Sanskrit translation in favor of softer, positive language choices.

Note: All Bhagavad Gita translations and excerpts in this article are based on Stephen Mitchell’s Bhagavad Gita: A New Translation. It offers clear language and excellent commentary for the beginning student. ❧

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Patricia Schmidt, C-IAYT, E-RYT 500, YACEP, is a certified yoga therapist specializing in pelvic health, accessible yoga and yoga for cancer support. She is a Franklin Method trainer, Roll Model method teacher and somatic movement specialist. To learn more, visit PLSYoga.com.