When it comes to studying the Eight Limbs of Yoga, I find that some of the principles can be pretty obvious, while others give me the opportunity to chew on the concepts a bit deeper.  Then there are the ones that outwardly seem to fall inside the obvious column, but on further reflection have some juicy nuggets that I hadn't initially noticed.  

The Yama of Asteya is one of those that has one foot in the obvious category and the other in the hmmmm section.  

The third in line of the Yamas (coming after the principle of Ahimsa, or nonviolence, and Satya, truthfulness), Asteya translates to nonstealing.  That seems pretty straightforward, in that we all know it's just not super great to steal.  But there's a little more to Asteya than keeping your hands out of the proverbial cookie jar.

Exploring some of those deeper layers

First up is the idea of stealing time from someone.  Since "time" can be an abstract concept, what does it look like to steal it from another person?  One way can be arriving late to something.  Whether that's to give someone a ride to the airport or meeting them for a lunch date, when we're late to a scheduled event, we're stealing the time away from that other person or group of people.

Speaking of interpersonal relations, we also steal time from someone when we're leading a one-sided conversation.  In that case, it's less of an interaction and more of a speech or rant.  Hardly an exchange.  

Same idea when it comes to interrupting someone who's talking:  We steal their right to be heard.  And when both situations are blended, when someone controls the conversation and doesn't take a breath to allow for even a natural interaction, the other person often feels like they need to interrupt just to be a part of that dialog.

Another way Asteya presents is if you take credit for someone else's work.  Be that in the office or while plagiarizing materials that someone else has written, an easy way to practice this Yama is to stay in your lane and give credit where credit is due.

A few other examples that are on the more obvious side include not paying your fair share of taxes (don't get me started on the upper 1% paying a smaller tax rate than the vast majority of everyone else), taking "extra" office supplies from work, or not returning items that you've previously borrowed.  

Obviously there are varying degrees of this Yama, and potentially some could be easier to rationalize than others (like having the mindset of "The government shouldn't get any more of my money" vs. breaking into a neighbor's house and stealing all of their valuables).  It's up to you to determine any hierarchy of Asteya.  Taking a bit of time to reflect on the ways that you've knowingly or unknowingly stolen from others can be a great place to begin some introspection.