I’m somehow one of the more adventurous people I know and the laziest. I’m just as likely to book a last minute flight to India as I am to lay on the couch and watch the entire season of the new Bridgerton show in one sitting (highly recommend both).
I’ve thought for a while that inclinations for adventure, and other ambitions, are at odds with a desire for peace. A desire to be content, or as I learned last month, santosha - a sanskrit word that means contentment.
I spent April in Goa, India. As Rachel mentioned in her recent guest post, it’s hard to capture our adventures in words after the fact. So I don’t think I’ll try, at least not right now.
Also I was in Goa doing an intensive yoga teacher training. So if I were to summarize the trip, this would mostly cover it: I spent a lot of time in a yoga shala. Doing yoga.
An expanded account of the experience would also mention that we studied yoga philosophy, anatomy, ayurveda, and more.
A few of the things I learned last month have stayed top of mind as I’ve come “back to reality,” including santosha.
Santosha is one of the five niyamas in yoga philosophy, which are to do with the moral code or ethics of living a yogic life. The niyamas, including santosha, are also about the practices that prepare the body and mind for meditation.
The yoga sutras say that santosha - contentment - is a path to unimaginable happiness.
But we can’t achieve happiness by chasing happiness if that makes sense. Actually, santosha is not about achieving or chasing anything. It’s about being content with what I have and who I am. It’s acceptance of what is, and not pushing or wishing for something else.
That what I have, and who I am - is enough.
In ancient yoga, there was only one asana - only one physical posture - and that was a seated position for meditating. One of the things yogis have to become comfortable with, in order to meditate, is overcoming tension and effort. Finding contentment is one part of the practice.
“Yoga is a way to freedom. By its constant practice, we can free ourselves from fear, anguish and loneliness.” - Indra Devi
Aforementioned laziness aside, for as long as I can remember I’ve always wanted more, and always wanted to be more.
This seemingly simple concept of contentment is not easy. Part of this is the world we live in. Entire industries - and possibly economies - might collapse if millions of people suddenly decided they were enough, and that what they have is enough.
Which I guess makes the search for santosha sort of a rebellion. Which also sounds like an adventure.
This is a really insightful essay.
I like to think I'm pretty good at contentment, at least compared to a lot of folks around me.
But I could do better. I want to be better. At being content. Is that oxymoronic?
Anyway, I love this statement, really made me think. "Entire industries - and possibly economies - might collapse if millions of people suddenly decided they were enough, and that what they have is enough."
✌🏻