Santosha is one of the niyamas (conduct practices) described in the Patanjali Yoga sutras. Santosha means being satisfied with what we have, without experiencing desire for what others have. The term comes from sam (meaning completely) and tosha (meaning contentment or acceptance).
Put together, it could be translated as “complete acceptance.“
Santosha is an attitude and also a state. Practicing santosha in our lives will bring us a sense of peace and inner well-being, in which we are free from cravings and desires. When these external influences dissipate, one can be on the true path or purest state of oneself, without fear or manipulation. This is considered an essential part of spiritual development.
Santosha is connecting with your own nature, built on love and compassion, and from which you walk away when you believe that it is made up of everything impermanent that you think you need to be happy.
The Hindu tradition firmly believes in the laws of karma, which is the consequence of the fruit of our actions. Everything that happens to us, absolutely everything, obeys these spiritual laws, which act for our personal evolution and growth.
Patañjali in Sutra 2.42 speaks of the great benefit of keeping your mind on the Santosha, he says:
“As a result of contentment, one attains immense happiness“
At a basic level, the contentment that Patañjali refers to is generated by the serenity and inner peace that comes from disconnecting from your attachments and desires regardless of what happens to you in life.
Many yogic texts consider santosha as a practice done at different levels:
Intention: putting the best of intentions and efforts into any action, and then accepting whatever the result may be.
Inner state: an attitude of contentment opens the door to other virtues such as compassion, non-attachment and abundance.
Expression: the external manifestation of santosha allows you to walk with serenity, without superficiality and with total satisfaction.
The meaning of Santosha is closely related to the concept of equanimity, defined as “a state of stability that is not disturbed by experience or exposure to emotions.” In this sense, the yogi accepts any situation that arises, be it pleasure, pain, failure or success.
The meaning of Santosha also implies accepting oneself and accepting the posture one is in, without making happiness dependent on achieving goals or changing aspects of oneself. Everything we want, already exists in us.
These philosophical and attitudinal aspects are interrelated and are not only applied in your rational reflections on your attitudes but also in your organic and physical actions-experiences in yoga postures.
It is important to take responsibility for the quality of our lives. And that has a lot to do with the type of decisions and choices you’ve been making so far. See if you live or just survive. That said, now comes the best news: We all have the power to access happiness, contentment at every moment. You can access your happiness now.
In yoga practice, understanding what Santosha is is very beneficial. Wanting to do better is something natural, and sometimes it is hard for us to accept that we cannot do what we want to do, but as a well-known proverb says, only from acceptance can change be born. Being satisfied with where we are and moving forward from there is the key to a healthy and transformative yoga practice.
When you are practicing yoga, set the intention to appreciate yourself for what you are and for what your body can do, feel grateful for the path and the point you have reached. When you practice Asanas or other Yoga techniques it is to feel that moment, the sensations, the immense luck of being able to work and invest in your happiness; it is remaining in balance and equanimity, even when the experience may be painful or physically suffering.
In the Bhagavad Gita (v.47-48) it is said:
“Your right or obligation as a human being is only to act; do not believe that you deserve to receive the fruits of the action. Do not consider yourself as the creator of the fruits of your activities; nor remain in the attachment to inactivity. Stay immersed in the union, do what is necessary, give up attachment to the fruits, be indifferent to success or failure. This attitude is what is called Yoga”.
Although it is not literal, I like to feel this thought:
“May I have the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know how to differentiate”
The path that scares us is the right one.
There are two types of contentment, a “circumstantial” and an “existential” contentment. “Circumstantial” refers to delegating your happiness-well-being to your circumstances (which may or may not favor them at a given moment) and “existential” has to do with the fact that you recognize that happiness and well-being always exist, just for the simple fact of your existence; Simply because you are alive.
Take Responsibility over You.
They have taught us to create and visualize dreams, to motivate ourselves, to use all our abilities and intellect to achieve our goal, to use a projection of the future and base our success references on power, money, recognition, the need to stand out… sometimes using comparison. So, no matter what happens, we go for it with all our resources (some even sacrificing health, family, environment…). It is just this attitude of managing to satisfy that need at all costs (and maintain it) to be supposedly happy, which makes the world as it is today: with wars and a profound lack of global awareness. There is a very deep relationship between our inner process and the process that the planet is experiencing.
With this I am not saying that you have not follow your aspirations and projections (it is not easy to get out of such a deep and rooted systemic pattern learned from generation to generation), we all have a purpose (dharma) to fulfill and sometimes it takes us a lifetime to know which one it is (but it has nothing to do with the profession, many times it has to do with suffering less). The focusing and knowing what you want helps us to have a direction…
My opinion is that as long as you seek and develop your purpose with awareness and respect for yourself and others, it will be in tune with your yoga practice. Prosperity and abundance are not at odds with Yoga.
You are already complete.
The purpose of this reflection is to show you that there is a place in you, to which you can always go, that is already happy, that is already complete. Personally, understanding this helped me a lot to take a huge weight off my shoulders.
If you are delegating your happiness to your relationship with your environment and the outside world such as your work, your family, your aspirations, your desires, etc., you are trapped in that circumstantial contentment, which offers no more than specific rewards and generates suffering in the medium-long term.
You are already complete. Look inside of you to be happy, be thankful for what you already have.
Emotional control is the key. Developing positive thinking is the key. Being happy “now” is the key.
Do not grieve if life hits you and fills your path with adversity, because “man’s life is a struggle for the spiritual evolution.” Do not go after vain things, do not let yourself be blinded by the apparent brilliance of matter. “Everything in man is vanity, and a striving after the wind.” Look for what transcends that vanity, that vain and ephemeral thing that is everything material. Even so, fight to get material goods and that everything material in your life is covered, but do not forget what is really important; and what is really important is the Real.
I remind you in case you had forgotten: Being is what is real. Beneath that real being, a thick veil has been drawn that prevents us from being aware of the essential nature of ourselves, and where thoughts, emotions and instincts rule with tyranny, masked. That is why all the great spiritual practices began by investigating the nature of suffering to provide an answer and calm from the inner light, from the ability to be grateful for life, only for the virtue of being itself. We forget that the fact that you are reading these words is already a miracle.
Santosha on the mat
The practice of yoga helps us to remember our being and to find calm, happiness, well-being, lightness and joy without mental projection, with detachment, in a very organic, physical way, which is only experienced in spontaneous states of meditation.
If you have experienced that state of calm and well-being in your yoga sessions, I would ask you to remember it. Remember how you felt when you were calm, how you physically noticed your face and your hands, what emotions arose in that calm… how time relaxed and space was simple, all light. Remember it, keep it in mind to be able to use it when your circumstances take you out of your comfort zone to return to that center, where santosha always exists.
That is the practice of Santosha: remembering the Self that you are. Wonder, be thankful for this great miracle and sacred space. Feel joy in your heart every time you remember it.
And even if the circumstances turn adverse, your center will be at peace. Because you are already peace, you are already joy and calm.
See you on the mat!
