A Blissful Life 5/1/24: Finding Contentment

Welcome, May! I hope you are all beginning to enjoy the warming weather as we sail into the heart of Spring. Spring has always been my favorite time of year. It’s a reawakening as new life bubbles up to the surface of our earth. Can you feel the energy within and around you? It’s as if our environment transforms into a romantic play, brimming with beauty in the form of flowers, birdsong, and children’s laughter. I invite you to spend time outside this May, delighting in the lighthearted, excited, joyful time of year that we find ourselves in.

This month at Ocean Bliss Yoga we are exploring in depth ‘Santosha’. Santosha is the second niyama of ‘Patanjali’s Eight Limbs of Yoga’ and it roughly translates to mean ‘contentment’. For those of you who are unfamiliar, the niyamas are recommended habits for a healthy and spiritual existence that help us to form a better relationship with ourselves, which in turn allows us to have stronger and more authentic relationships with other people and the world around us.

Practicing Santosha means to accept and appreciate what you already have, and to move forward from there. Do you ever find yourself thinking, “I’ll be happy when...”? It doesn't matter if it’s losing the weight, getting the job, meeting the partner, buying the house, or anything else– when we focus on what we do not have, consciously or unconsciously we are putting ourselves in a lack mentality and that makes actually getting what we want much more difficult. An abundance mindset comes from using “I am” statements and finding fulfillment in the present version of you that sits here reading this now. By accepting and appreciating who we are and what we have in this moment and taking steps forward from there, we enter into a state of Santosha.

Mindfulness and meditation practices are some of my favorite tools for finding Santosha because they bring our focus down from the gripping, story-telling mind and into the present moment. Natural contentment comes when we are not analyzing, judging, telling a story about, or trying to fix our present self, but rather seated in it, breathing life into it, and loving into it. Regular practices of meditation and mindful awareness guide us into the now and help us to humbly and whole-heartedly meet ourselves where we are. It is from this place of loving presence and self-acceptance that we can truly move forward.

I invite you to work on accepting and appreciating yourself and your life as they are. Can you feel whole and worthy now? Can you trust that you are exactly where you are supposed to be in your journey of life? This month, take some extra time for gratitude and self-compassion. Be kind to yourself, and let yourself smile a little more.

I invite you to join me at Ocean Bliss Yoga for yoga, Pilates, and Spring-inspired workshops all month long! Sign up at: oceanblissyoga.net. For private or semi-private yoga, Pilates, nutritional health coaching, meditation, or sound healing, call or text me at 917-318-1168. I also provide wellness and training for private groups, such as teams and businesses.