Brahmacharya

Brahmacharya is probably one of the more charged of the yamas, in terms of people's response to it. Literally, its translation is "walking with God," but it's more simply and often translated as "celibacy." The straight-up, literal interpretation of that is something like becoming a monk and just abstaining from sex and thoughts thereon (or transmuting them to thoughts of divinity), but as the Buddha pointed out with his middle-path (and my dad in a tangential memory of mine, speaking to the idea of celibate Catholic priests), that's just not a normal nor healthy path for most people.

So, what does it mean for the regular person, then? It might help to remember here that the yamas are sometimes translated as "restraints" or "observances," and also that they are generally directed externally - for healthy relationships with others. So developing brahmacharya might mean to devote energy to a healthy relationship in this sexual sense - it's obviously harmful to the relationship, and in the end, both people, if someone cheats, for example. But even if one is single, it's harmful to use someone sexually, say, or ultimately harmful to the self to just have sex unthinkingly, in a variety of ways from the base physical (STDs, unwanted pregnancy, shady people) to more intangible ways (like a harmful drug, it might feel good for a moment, but in the long run does nothing to fulfill or heal).

And as important as being conscious of and being healthy about sexuality is to the human psyche, brahmacharya can also be extended out beyond that, to just keeping a healthy restraint on obsessive and compulsive impulses, or other things done mindlessly, like stress-eating, for example. Everything in moderation, as they say.
-
Kind Ambition - on various aspects of ambition, competition, and their effects on self