Discovering santosha in the small moments
August is an exciting month filled with sunshine, movement, and fun. It is also the season when I welcome visitors to my yoga classes. I appreciate that they make time in their travels to step onto the mat. Even a small interaction with someone new can feel meaningful in this vast world.
Noticing and appreciating these simple moments is one way we can practice santosha.
Santosha is the second niyama, or personal observance, in yoga philosophy. It is often translated as “contentment”, a sense that what we have and who we are is enough.
Benjamin Franklin once said, “Contentment makes poor men rich; discontent makes rich men poor.”
Contentment does not depend on how many material possessions we have. Instead, it invites us to turn inward and recognize what is already here.
I always feel a sense of contentment when people come together to practice yoga. The moment we begin breathing together creates a feeling of grounding and connection. It may seem like a small thing, nothing especially dramatic, but savoring these quiet moments allows me to experience them without grasping or asking them to become something more.
When I let go of trying to get something from every experience, I begin to notice that peace is already where I happen to be: right here.
On the Mat
This month, I invite you to set an intention that honors who you already are:
I am love.
I am peace.
I am enough.
These simple affirmations can help us reconnect with the peace that already lives within our minds and hearts.
We can also practice savoring the small experiences that are already here:
- Sharing one another’s company
- Feeling the breath that sustains our life and energy
- Appreciating our two small feet supporting the whole body in a posture such as Warrior II
Nothing extraordinary has to happen. Contentment can be found in simply noticing what is supporting us in this moment.
Beyond the Mat
Beyond the mat, we can practice pausing for a moment to connect with the wholeness within us.
Sometimes we feel this during a quiet moment of stillness. At other times, it appears when life is moving smoothly and all the puzzle pieces seem to fall into place. But contentment does not require everything to be perfect. It can also arise when we gently remember that, beneath all the changing circumstances of life, nothing essential is missing from us.
We are already whole.
We are already complete.
And the peace we seek may be closer than we think.