The second of the five Yamas is Satya, which means truthfulness. This is really about whether you engage with people in a way that means you are being honest and truthful. Can you live a life of truthfulness? There are some discussions of these ancient yogic texts which suggest that even white lies should be avoided, for example, Sri Swami Satchidananda says “first, follow truth, and then the truth will follow you.”
I am really drawn to this one. I don’t lie – my therapist tells me I am guileless about why people do horrible things to each other! I don’t like being lied to, which is why I don’t lie. Recently some people who I thought were friends of mine started lying to me about why they couldn’t spend time with me. I knew why and when I called them on it, they got defensive. I suspect they were trying to protect my feelings and those of the others involved, but I prefer truth over lies, any day!