This week we continue our exploration of the Niyamas, the second limb of yoga. The second niyama is santosha or contentment. While the translation is simple, the practice of santosha can be challenging. The goal is to find appreciation for what we have and to detach from desiring more, cultivating an inner peace and joy that is not dependent on what is happening in our lives. Santosha or ‘contentment’ doesn’t mean idly sitting back and relinquishing all goals and responsibilities. It simply means accepting and appreciating what we have and what we are already and moving forwards from there.
As I thought about this, as in the past I looked back and reflected on what I had written in prior years. It struck me that in the past my focus on Santosha was challenged by balancing a demanding banking career and its related stresses with family and other commitments, including my yoga gig. I was feverishly trying to “be content” which, in hindsight, I was conflating with being relaxed. After retiring from banking, I have remained task driven with many goals related to finishing projects in my house and enhancing my yoga practice and business. Thinking about Santosha now, I realize that being purposeful (task driven) does not mean I do not practice Santosha. Nowhere in the translation does Patanjali tell us that to practice Santosha you need to be idle or completely relaxed. Rather than flagellating myself, yet again, for what I perceive as non-yogic behavior, I have decided that the contentment I get from gazing at a finished project (repaired door, cleaned out closet, baked bread) is indeed practicing Santosha. I am content with my home, my family, and for my professional past. I do not crave more possessions. In my practice, I find Santosha in shorter practices, done alone, in the peace of my studio with my candles lit and my twinkle lights on. I am content, almost, with not being able to do wheel pose, something that I could not honestly say several years ago. Progress is being made. Slowly.
In short, contentment (not idleness) helps us receive life’s curve balls with greater equanimity, knowing that we have little control over much of what happens - accepting this can be freeing.
Our Practice-Santosha on the Mat- Eka Pada Rajakapotasana-Pigeon Pose
In our asana practice we can achieve Santosha by appreciating our bodies for what they can do, embracing where we are in a pose rather than straining or forcing ourselves into our perception of how it should look. I am currently struggling with some hip issues on my non-replaced side and am challenged in my practice both physically and mentally. I am moving toward accepting where I am now; by backing off, using props and modifying, I can experience less pain until a longer-term solution is determined. Wherever we are in our practice, finding gratitude for what our body can do versus being malcontent over what we cannot do is practicing Santosha. When we practice a pose that may be challenging for us on the mat, it teaches us lessons about challenging ourselves off the mat. When facing uncomfortable situations, we will be more apt to find modified solutions and alternatives, adapting and accepting with contentment.
I liked this article on the topic.
Although it can be challenging and a bit uncomfortable, Pigeon Pose has many health benefits. Physically, it stretches and opens the hips, stretches the thighs, glutes, piriformis, and psoas muscles. Internally, it is thought to stimulate the abdominal organs and may aid in digestion. It can work well to relieve sciatic and back pain. Yogis believe that emotions can be stored in the hips and so opening them in this pose can release them.
There are many options for doing this pose and the benefits are the same in any variation.
Starting in tabletop or down dog. Extend the right leg back behind you and then bring the right knee to the right wrist. The shin can be perpendicular to the front edge of your mat or in towards the groin, start slow!
Root down through your front leg and balance your weight evenly between your right and left hips. Avoid having one hip higher than the other, or one hip in front of the other (putting a block or blanket/pillow under the hip of the bent leg can help).
Adjust the back leg so it is long and extended on the mat.
You may fold down to sleeping pigeon folding forward from the waist, bringing your chest towards the knee and shin, coming down to the forearms or forehead, resting on blocks or pillow is a good modification or stay high on the fingertips or blocks.
Enjoy where you are, be content where you are, practicing santosha……
Meditation On Santosha
As I have embraced retirement from my banking gig, I realize more than ever that contentment is not the same as passivity or boredom. I hope for a day without drama, and I no longer enjoy a frenetic pace. A life filled with drama may seem exciting, fiery; some may equate this calmness to a life lacking in passion, engagement, or fullness. Boredom. By practicing Santosha we can find that we can still love deeply, have goals, and live a full life, without burning down the house (figuratively of course).
One way to practice santosha is to cultivate gratitude. As many of you know, when I practice yoga either alone or with my classes, I take time to focus on gratitude. I have recently been grateful for quality time with my mother; she is forgetful and sometimes a little confused but still engaged and vital. She loves to read, argue politics and to help with a project. Recently I have been tasking her with going through old cards and letters and photos with me. I do laugh when she asks me who people are (ones that wrote her cards when I was born that I have never heard of!). I am very grateful for these moments.
Although I am not faithful to it, some may find keeping a gratitude journal helpful.
Santosha is the art of being content with what is, and finding joy in the present moment. — Judith Hanson Lasater
Contentment allows us to stop chasing happiness and relax into our greatness – Eoin Finn
Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. And let faith be the bridge you build to overcome evil and welcome good”. Maya Angelou
Nurturing with Food – Julia Anne’s Jedra Soup
I think santosha or contentment is best invoked by something warm and nurturing. I love always having soup around for a nurturing (and quick) meal, especially wonderful in winter. Make a large pot of this soup and enjoy it all week, likely enough to share with a neighbor! I have said that I created this recipe after many attempts to emulate the flavors of the lentil soup at Gansett Wraps, a local restaurant. I think this is fairly close and one of my go tos!
See you on the mat!
Namaste
Julia Anne
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