Do You Do Yoga?

One of the eight limbs of yoga, according to the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, is Yama or how you treat your environment. One of the Yamas is Staya or truth. The sutra describing this quality (II-36) says that one who speaks the truth will have the correct/desired results from their actions or words. One interpretation of this sutra is that when you speak, speak only of the Truth (with a capital ‘T’ - not necessarily the facts). Or, as Krishnamachaya used to say, “When you speak, speak only of God.” This would imply, for instance, that gossip is an action that works against this practice of Yama.

I received a great lesson on gossip last week. I received an email from my boss in the middle of the week asking how I was doing and if my work load was too much. Since this email was a bit out of the blue, I was curious about it origins. So in my response, I asked if there was any particular reason she asked. She explained that two of my coworkers had been raising concerns about my well-being lately. I remind you that I work from home, and neither of these coworkers have seen me in person in a while. My boss is aware of some medical issues I have been dealing with lately which are affecting my energy level, so I assured her that aside from that, nothing more profound was going on with my well-being.

After a long talk with one of my coworkers and friend, I discovered that the lack of energy I have had in the past few weeks was being interpreted as depression and a sense of isolation by my concerned peers. Rather than inquiring with me directly about why my energy level was low, an entire drama about me had developed! This story made its way to my boss who had the sense to contact me directly. Once I confided in my coworker the real cause of my low energy he seemed relieved. I was touched that there was concern for my well-being but also a little shocked that it had ballooned into an issue in the office.

I’ll have to remember this the next time I start speculating about what is happening in someone else’s life. That kind of gossip is not conducive to a clear mind and actions taken based on gossip could have unexpected consequences. For example, I felt compelled to share personal information that I had not intended to share at this time, and I don’t believe that was the intention of my coworkers.