The Yama and Niyama of Patanjali seem simple, yet they are quite elegant in their complexity. A set of 10 codes that introduces varying degrees of refinement of our organism as a tool and vehicle for conscious perception. They are as follows:
Yama (Social Codes): Ahimsa (actions that promote life, growth, happiness, and expansion), Aparigraha (actions that demonstrate a value of the growth and happiness of others and induce social harmony), Asteya (actions that respect the boundaries and choices that others have made and create synergy), Satya (actions, speech and thoughts that are absent of bias, thus revealing absolute truth), Bhramacharya (the path to ultimate existence… or, unconditional love)
Niyama (Personal Codes): Swadhyaya (study of the self and of consciousness), Shaucha (cleanliness of self and of living & working space), Santosha (peace that comes through the understanding that we are the creators of our world and that our current environment is the result of our own choices), Tapasya (deliberate actions to take us out of our comfort zone), Ishwara Pranidhana (surrender of all ambition, desires, struggle, or striving for an existence that is other than the here and now)