Have you ever taken a Yoga class and felt thrilled to achieve a new pose or amazed by your increased strength and flexibility?
But what happens when what you accomplished last week doesn’t happen today?
Struggling to replicate the amazing Yoga pose you mastered last week or to maintain a certain “level” of practice can leave you feeling frustrated, unsatisfied, and defeated. It’s natural to feel fantastic when things are going well. The problem arises when you become too attached to that feeling. Perhaps you return to a class seeking that same sense of accomplishment, only to find it eludes you. You might not feel as great, wobble all over the place, or become irritated by others around you or even yourself and your body.
It’s all too easy to slip out of the present moment and into self-judgment. After all, we live in a culture where we’re constantly being evaluated – through school grades, workplace assessments, and even by our own critical inner voices. As Women we are also bombarded with society’s idea of what we should look like and how we should be. When our Yoga classes start to make us feel bad about ourselves (quite often because of the pressure we put on ourselves to achieve a certain outcome) this is the moment we start to either consciously give up or we suddenly don’t have for Yoga anymore!
The solution lies in ‘Santosha’. Santosha is one of the Niyamas, an ethical code in Yoga, and it means contentment. Santosha helps us find peace with what is here now. Being present in our Yoga practice means accepting our body as it is today, rather than wishing it were as it was two weeks ago, five years ago, or six months into the future. Mentally berating your tight hamstrings won’t lead you to happiness. Practicing contentment means letting go of judgment, pressure, and negative self-talk, and replacing them with love, self-acceptance, and respect for your body. Santosha allows us to just enjoy our practice no matter what. This is surely the way forwards to a healthy and sustainable Yoga practice that improves both our physical and mental health.
If you’re like many busy women, juggling multiple roles in life , life is always go, go, go. Practicing contentment on the Yoga mat can provide you with an unconditional safe space to check in and come home to yourself. Contentment in Yoga isn’t something you need to achieve; it’s something you can allow. Santosha – Contentment can keep your Yoga journey full of happiness, peace, and joy. Santosha is the key to allowing Yoga to meet you exactly where you are and continue to support you through every step of life’s journey.
