Being Content with Santosha

Santosha, contentment, is my favorite niyama.  If we can't be truly contented with our lives, our bodies, our "whatever," we can't find true and lasting peace and our ability to concentrate suffers.  With contentment, we can rest in a place of peace without desire or attachment.  When we practice santosha we are happy with what we have and what happens in our lives, rather than being unhappy because of what we don't have or what doesn't happen.

In our culture, it can be difficult to find contentment.  Our culture is quite concerned with competition and comparison, keeping up with the Jones', for example.  We are assaulted by advertisements that promote the desire for material wealth and possessions and sensual experience.  If we don't have the material possessions, money, or the body on the magazine cover, or we don't drink a certain drink or eat a certain meal, etc. etc., we feel inadequate.  We are led to believe that if we have those things we will be happy and worthy.  Those feelings of inadequacy, due to competition or comparing ourselves to others, block our ability to feel peaceful.  This is even though, logically, we know that happiness is not gifted to us because we have the right "things," lots of money or because we have the perfect body.

Feelings of inadequacy are the work of the ego.  Santosha gives us the ability to accept things as they truly are, rather than forcing ourselves to achieve the desires of the ego.  Then, we have the ability to see which desires are from our heart and spirit and which are created by the ego.

As a teacher, I sometimes see my students thinking they have to go further into a pose than is best for their bodies, sacrificing alignment and causing undue stress.  This is due to the struggle of the ego wanting to do the pose "right."  If you are in the alignment that works best for your body and provides your proper balance of effort and ease in this present moment, and you practice with a joyful spirit, you are doing the pose "right."

Santosha is a choice we choose to make.  We choose santosha by being content with what we have and what happens in our lives.  We choose peace.  When we practice santosha, we develop an emotional maturity.  While we may have powerful feelings, loss or the inability to attain a certain thing or state does not devastate us.  We could lose our job or relationship and, while we might have intense feelings around the situation, we can have the ability to move past the situation and continue to live our lives without causing ourselves undue pain and suffering.  Being overwhelmed by our feelings, desires and attachments serves no one.  With santosha we have the ability be courageous and find solace in the face of an otherwise miserable event.

In Light on Yoga, B.K.S. Iyengar says:

Contentment and tranquility are states of mind.  Differences arise among men because of race, creed, wealth and learning.  Differences create discord and there arise conscious or unconscious conflicts which distract and perplex one.  Then the mind cannot become one-pointed (ekagra) and is robbed of its peace.  There is contentment and tranquility when the flame of the spirit does not waver in the wind of desire.  The sadhaka [spiritual aspirant] does not seek the empty peace of the dead, but the peace of one whose reason is firmly established in God.

This week's assignment is to keep a gratitude journal.  Every day write down five things for which you are grateful.  (Of course, you can write more if you wish.  It is your journal.)  Often, what we really need to feel contented is to be grateful for what we have.

I wish you contentment and peace!

Namaste,
Julie