September 1st

Santosha is the second niyama, the focus of this week's study.
I like what Donna Farhi has to say
The ability to feel satisfied within the container of one's immediate experience. Not to be confused with happiness. It is a sign that we are at peace with whatever stage of growth we are in or circumstances we are in. There is a central sense of being balanced.

The sutra tells us there is a direct relationship between contentment and personal happiness. With contentment, one’s emotions are brought under an even keel, and the fluctuations of the mind are stilled. Isn’t this the purpose of yoga? I search for sukha in each pose, to feel joy while my body works it's edge. Can I learn to accept where I am at at any given moment? This is contentment and the sages say that by working on this, I will attain the supreme gift of happiness.
Patanjali tells us something profound, yet really simple: be content and you will be happy. Want what you have and don’t want what you don’t have.

I can explore santosha or contentment through the lens of equanimity, gratitude, shrada
and patience. (Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.)

Yvonne wrote on my get well card in June. . . .
"I went everywhere with longing in my eyes, until here in my own house I felt Truth filling my sight."
Rumi