Shaucha: Is Cleanliness Really Next to Godliness?

Often translated as cleanliness, Sandra Anderson discusses the first of the five niyamas – shaucha – outlined in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra. She suggests that translating this Sanskrit term as ‘purity’ may expand our understanding of this concept. And she goes on to reflect on how this observance can be applied in different dimensions of our everyday lives – in our environment, in our physical and mental experiences.