Living yoga off the mat: Satya (Truthfulness)

My daughter shared a story with me yesterday.

As she is entering her final year of high school she has determined that she doesn’t need the high volume of uniform pieces that she currently has in her closet. She decided to post some items for sale on a local buy and sell board.

She was approached by a potential buyer who indicated interest. They arranged to meet, (safely in a public place with a friend). At this meeting the buyer, despite having agreed upon the selling price, attempted to negotiate a lower price.

(During my daughter’s telling of this story I made an assumption. I assumed that the potential buyer of the uniform was a fellow or in-coming student; this was not the case. Turned out that the potential buyer was a parent of a student.)

They continued their conversation for a few minutes longer during which time the purchaser continued to negotiate a lower price.

They finally ended their conversation without a positive outcome, for either party.

I asked my daughter why she didn’t negotiate. She told me that she felt that the potential buyer was trying to receive a better price was because of my daughters age. In my daughter’s opinion, taking advantage of her youth and decision making.

My daughter then finished her story with “I am a strong, confident woman. I can stand by my decisions. “.

This is an outstanding example of “knowing your truth” and practicing “non-harming” speech.

We all struggle with Satya - being self-aware and speaking kindly to ourselves; it is a challenge we encounter often throughout our day. Perhaps we are to look to those around us (and maybe to those we may not automatically consider) as our guide for taking and living yoga off the mat.