The word Ahimsa literally means not to injure or show cruelty to any creature or any person in any way whatsoever. Ahimsa is, however, more than just lack of violence as adapted in yoga. It means kindness, friendliness, and thoughtful consideration of other people and things. It also has to do with our duties and responsibilities too. Ahimsa implies that in every situation we should adopt a considerate attitude and do no harm.
“Ahimsa（非暴力）”的字面意义是不伤害，不对任何生物，当然包括人类在内施以残酷之行。尽管如此，非暴力不仅仅局限于瑜伽练习中。它寓意待人接物的善良，友好和关切。我们要勇于承担责任，在任何情况下都应当用体贴的心来杜绝伤害。
Ahamsa is the first and the most often cited Yamas of the Eight Limbs of Yoga from Patanjiali's classic Yoga Sutra written centuries ago and considered as the Bible of yoga. Ahimsa is often cited in defense of vegetarianism and pacifism, just generally being nice to people. But in the practice of yoga, not harming yourself is just as important as not harming others. And this applies to your practice both on and off the mat.
数百年前，帕坦加利撰写的经典《瑜伽经》被奉为瑜伽圣经，其中，非暴力作为八支分瑜伽中制戒（Yamas）的第一条被收录。非暴力也常常在素食主义和和平主义中被引用，通俗地说，就是友善待人。在在瑜伽练习中，不伤害自己和不伤害他人同等重要。无论你是否在瑜伽垫上练习，请始终把它运用在你的练习中。
But what does it mean to practice Ahimsa on our yoga mats? For many of us, it means backing off and learning to let the competitive ego go. Sure, we have learned not to compare ourselves with others. A good yoga instructor will always encourage you to listen to your own body, work at your own pace, modify as you need and keep your judging eyes off your neighbors, who very well might, as they say, be a contortionist.
当我们在瑜伽垫上练习时，“非暴力”究竟是什么意思呢？对大多数人来说，就是退一步，摆脱好胜之心。我们已经知道在练习时不要与别人比较。一个好的老师总是会引导你倾听自己的身体，跟随自己的节奏，依据自己的需要而改变，将你盯着旁人的视线移开，因为，像他们说的，那人很可能是个柔术演员。
Learning not to compete with ourselves is a more nuanced and difficult skill. This means not comparing today's practice and experience to that of yesterday, not having expectations that we will always be able to match, if not beat, our previous performance. The beauty of yoga—and what connects it so closely to the art of meditation—is that it allows us to be present with ourselves in each moment, as is, without bringing in our memory of yesterday or expectation for tomorrow. This is why it's called a practice. In the end I can say that Ahimsa is not harming yourself or others either, just happily live and let others live.
学会不与自己竞争是一项更微妙更困难的技能。这意味着不要把今天的练习和昨天的比较，也不要对期待我们总会比先前做得更好。瑜伽之美--令它与冥想的艺术紧密连接的--在于令人享受当下的时刻，挥别昨天的记忆，婉拒明天的预期。这就是为什么它被称作习练。 最后，非暴力就是不要伤害自己或他人，与世人共同快乐地生活。
