Literally interpreted, Asteya means that we should not take things that are not ours to take. However, as with all the Yamas, much self-analysis will be needed to explore our natural tendencies of thought to discover the true subtleties of our minds.

 Asteya also includes the concept that we should be content with what comes our way by honest means.  Apart from just wishing we had things that belong to other people, this also involves hoarding – having far more than we need and things that could be available for others instead.

 In yoga we are taught that when we let go of the desire to have something, it will come to us by natural means … or we may even realise that we do not actually need it …… “be careful what you wish for”

 We can also look at our relationship with time .. do we steal from ourselves by being late in our day to day lives and to our yoga sessions?

 We can look at how we present ourselves to the world – covering up our natural selves can be a detraction from who we are and therefore robbing our true selves from being expressed. It also robs others of knowing who we really are.

 When we are not in the present moment, we also are stealing from ourselves the experience of being alive in that moment. If we do that most of the time, we will miss our life.

These are some of the ways to focus on Asteya and I am sure you can think of many more ….