Santosha: The Practice of Contentment

Santosha is a Sanskrit word in yoga that loosely means contentment.
It’s been on my mind a lot lately.

Contentment is something I have always been seeking but I’m not sure this world is designed for us to be content, “never enough” is in our bones!
Santosha is a quality we can cultivate through our practice and, like so many aspects of yoga, it transcends into daily life.
Let’s explore…

The study of yoga is mainly based on an ancient text you might’ve heard of — Patanjali’s Eight Limbs of Yoga. Patanjali lays out 8 steps toward enlightenment (essentially every yogi’s ultimate goal). This is the spiritual path we call Yoga.

Asana — the physical poses — is only one small part of the journey. Patanjali offers guidance for our daily lives, reminding us that yoga is so much more than a physical practice.

Santosha sits in the Niyamas (the second limb of yoga — a set of personal practices/qualities to live by). It’s described as contentment, acceptance.

It reminds me of something my teacher in India used to say during our training. Students often get frustrated with not being able to “perfect” a pose (whatever perfect means). I could definitely be that person lol. He’d explain that yoga isn’t about perfection — it’s simply “finding comfort and ease in exactly where you are.” That’s Santosha.

That looks like breathing in to wherever you are and accepting with love.
Accepting. Smiling even!

During my time in India, I noticed this quality a lot especially in my teachers, but also in the monks I met in the north. They had nothing, yet they seemed so joyful. Or maybe they were joyful because they had nothing?

Meanwhile, in the world we live in, we’re conditioned to always want more. It’s part of being human to desire growth and expansion and some of that is amazing, but when is it enough? When are we enough?

Personally, I’ve wrestled with this a lot. I get glimpses of contentment, but it’s often fleeting. Is it even possible to be content all the time? Can we still be content in a big transition? Can we still be content and be sad? Because that’s real life isn’t it? Sometimes in the world of wellness/mental health, it can feel like there’s pressure or even shame if we’re not “succeeding” at these practices.

But Santosha is a practice — daily, ongoing, imperfect. Practice just means we keep showing up, we keep trying.

So how do we cultivate it?

For me, what comes to mind is Loving Awareness — in everything. On the mat and off. What is Loving Awareness? Ram Dass talks about it as a way of being: resting in the present, witnessing thoughts and feelings with unconditional love. Whatever your mind is doing or however you are feeling, not judging just witnessing with love and acceptance. It’s not our fault, we are simply products of our environment and actually it can be almost amusing when you witness it from this place.

We can practice this in asana and in life. Noticing and accepting with love. Surely this is Santosha? It’s definitely a lifelong practice, and some days it’s way easier than others.

Ram Dass suggests the mantra: “I am Loving Awareness.”
It feels so nice in my body to say it softly inside. Try it now, just quietly.

I’ts not a magic key to instant contentment, but maybe, over time, Loving Awareness becomes Santosha.

So here I am, seeking Santosha — vowing to practice Loving Awareness as often as I can remember (because let’s be real, sometimes I’ll forget!).
Wanna join me? 💛
What gives you contentment?