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Contentment and Enoughness
On October 2, 2012 in
General
by
alexcordoba
TODAY
instead of focusing on …
what you don’t have
what you want
comparing yourself to others
getting stuck in the trance of scarcity and not-enoughness
COULD YOU
step into …
what is already yours
be content with right where you are
love your beloved, your friends, your coworkers just as they are
accept the self in it’s perfect imperfection
open to the abundance that is already yours?
Santosha (contentment) is a mental decision, a moral choice, a practiced observance you can make at any time. To practice contentment is to say, “This is enough, this moment is enough, this person is enough, this meal is enough, right here and right now … it is enough.”
Remember only you can bring happiness to yourself.
So today and everyday for the rest of the week, pause each morning/midday/before you go to bed to acknowledge something, even one thing, with which you are wholly and simply content. Notice how the small act of acknowledgement can shift your thoughts, calm the breath and radically open the heart.
By Alex Cordoba
Alex Cordoba began practicing yoga in 2001 and from that very first class she fell in love. It was when on the mat that Alex felt truly at home. Like a voice is to a singer or a paintbrush to an artist, yoga became just that for Alex’s life…it was her muse through which to share her passion to the world. In Alex’s classes she weaves together yoga philosophy, asana, pranayama, laughter, messages to inspire and uplift so that she can offer a unique and creative journey to her students every time they come to the mat. She encourages her students to practice compassion and patience towards others and themselves, to invite breath in, to find laughter, humility, and grace on the mat, and to be open to the possibilities and the adventures that arise when one dances with uncertainty. Read more about Alex at
AlexCordoba.com
.
Classes from Alex Cordoba coming soon to YogaDownload!
Start practicing today with these yoga & meditation classes:
Sweet Balance - A Pranic Meditation
- Katie Silcox
Restorative Yoga
– Jackie Casal Mahrou
Grounding and Centering Your Personal Field
(meditation)
– Nancy Nielsen
Related Posts
Finding Santosha: How to be Content Right Now!
As I sit here and think about this blog post, I can hear in the back of my head, "I will finally be happy when this post is written." Here I am placing conditions on my happiness and I know that I am not just doing it here, but I am guilty of it in many other area of my life. Thinking about this thought, I ask myself, “am I really going to be happy and content long term when this blog post is written? Or will I be seeking the next goal to place my conditions of contentment on?” Conditions on contentment was never something that I ever gave much thought to, I just assumed that they came with the process of being content, however, fleeting it may have been. However, true contentment does not lie in reaching the destination, but rather in enjoying the process. Something that I would come to learn through my personal yoga practice and the trials and errors of seeking lasting contentment.
How Taking a Yoga Retreat Cultivates Contentment
“The result of contentment is total happiness. The happiness we get from acquiring possessions is only temporary. We need to find new ones and acquire them to sustain this sort of happiness. There is no end to it. But true contentment, leading to total happiness and bliss, is in a class by itself.” – T.K.V. Desikachar
Yummy Yoga Flow Challenge with Claire
You can find santosha and cultivate contentment through yoga. Does your happiness depend upon what is occurring around you or does your sense of joy and serenity arise from within? According to Patanjali’s eight-limbed path of yoga, we can learn to cultivate contentment from the inside out. Santosha, the second Niyama or moral observance, means contentment. Like everything in yoga, the concept sounds simple, but the implementation takes discipline, desire, and focus. With a dedicated practice, we can shift our perspective and learn not to be constantly derailed by what’s happening around us. When we are living in the midst of a global crisis, you might wonder how in the heck to feel content or happy. You aren’t alone. We’re all in this together.
Get Lucky
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! This week we celebrate how to capture those feelings of good luck and happiness and bottle them up for the entire year. It’s just like the leprechaun finding a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, right? Check out Mark Morford’s latest class:
How to Get Lucky Vol. II: Get Luckier.
National Relaxation Day!
What if we told you that there’s a day dedicated to slowing down and chilling out, with zero guilt and zero regret? National Relaxation Day on August 15th is all about hitting the pause button on your busy schedule and putting your feet up. See if choosing to focus on doing less actually helps you create space for more joy and peace! Many of us complain that there isn’t enough time in the day. We’re constantly too busy and too committed to checking off item after item on our never-ending to-do lists. We forget that rest is just as important as work. We lose appreciation for experiencing the here and now. When we fall into a pattern of constantly “doing” instead of being, we can burn out and lose that sense of santosha or contentment in our lives.
Yoga to Take Action
"Do or do not. There is no try." Yoda said it best in Star Wars. If we want to manifest the life of our dreams, it isn’t enough to visualize and plan. You must act. You must do. There is power in movement and this week’s classes are designed to assist your launch into action and your manifestation of change. Our thoughts and emotions hold great power. Yoga and meditation help us quiet our mind and tune in to our inner desires––what will bring us true contentment or Santosha. But identifying and visualizing the life we want is only the beginning. You are what you do. Each action we take creates a new pattern inside and out. It is vital to practice with purpose and follow up your intentions with action. “Do your Practice and All is Coming”- Sri K Pattabhi Jois.
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