By Ma Udaysree & Yogi LB

What truly is necessary is very individual, cultural, and spiritual. In the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali we find aparigraha, living with minimal things. It’s not restricting yourself; to the contrary. Living with minimal things creates a great freedom in your life. Think about it for a moment. You practice non-attachment, letting go while saving money on the things you don’t buy, save storage space if you don’t have a garage, and then the hassle moving with a load full of stuff drops away too. Everyone dreads it – and garage sales are not making you rich either.

Let’s find out more in this frugal living guide.

Yogi LB’s Guide to Frugal Living

An ongoing quest for me, and one that I am renewing this year, is to eliminate all that is unnecessary from my life. Now, you might read this and think that I am cutting everything fun from my life, but that’s not true. Let me explain.

The first question in this quest, of course, is what does “necessary” mean? We must first examine what things are necessary … and the first question in this examination is … necessary for what? What is the true aim? My answer, which will be different than others, is “necessary for a happy yogic life.”

This definition, then, would include many things besides the basics of clothing, shelter, food, and a yoga mat. I might not need a good relationship with my wife in order to survive, but it is necessary for me to be happy in life. Same thing with my kids. To be happy, I must develop a good relationship with them, keep their inner light shining as long as possible, and spend time with them.

But that doesn’t mean that anything I do with them counts as necessary. I can be happy with my children just by going to a free park — I don’t need to buy them things all the time, or go costly entertainment (like movies, the mall, or waterparks).

Similarly, we need to eat, but we don’t eat junk food. You might say that sweets, or french fries, make you happy, really? Well, that’s the key to this whole exercise: do you really need something to make you happy from the outside? And even more, do you need it on a daily basis, or can it be an occasional treat? Actually as yogis we look within for our happiness and remove everything from our blissful core that hinders our light from shining.

Coffee and chocolate are two recent examples for me. I love both. A lot. But I am addicted to them (because of the caffeine), and that makes me want them more than I really need them for my taste buds to be happy. So I am trying to cut them out, at least for now. I think later, after I kick the habit, I can indulge in those things as a treat, once in awhile, without lapsing into addiction.

Other things I can cut out:

• Going to movies (I rarely do this anymore).
• Healthy sweets but even those. A true yogi can do without them.
• Toys (gizmos and gadgets that are a lot of fun, but not necessary – like an mp3 player).
• New books (I try to buy used now, or trade them), unless I want the newest edition on yogic reading.
• Eating out. Well, can’t do that now. Let’s see in 2022. For now, home cooking tops the list.

On the whole, I’ve cut out a lot already, and I’m very happy with the simplicity I’ve created so far. I have a lot more to do, but it’s the process that I enjoy along with the end result.

Chat with Ma Udaysree to explore your spending habits for a more frugal Yogic lifestyle.

*Yoga Art: The Core by Ma Udaysree