296. Santosha: I'll Be Happy When…
"I'll be happy when…"
More money. A better relationship. The job. The body. The house. Recognition. The next experience. The travel.
Sound familiar?
In this episode of My Daily Thread, we begin a mini-series on santoṣa (santosha), the second niyama in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras.
Santosha
Santoṣa (santosha) — contentment, satisfaction.
It's a simple concept. Maybe a little more difficult to actually live.
Santosha is being content with circumstances as we find them, not as we want them to be.
But let's be clear:
Contentment is not consolation. And it isn't complacency.
We're talking about finding gratification and fulfillment—a sense of ease and equanimity in the present moment.
Pulled forward. Pulled backward.
So often we're pulled into the future by our wants and desires.
Or we're pulled back into the past by regret, betrayal and rejection.
Either way, we're not fully here.
The deeper question behind santosha becomes:
Can I be fully present? Can I be at peace with what is happening right now?
And can I do that without requiring my reality to be different before I can be okay?
Acceptance is not approval
One of my favorite teachers, Byron Katie, explores this beautifully in her book Loving What Is.
Her work reminds us of the futility of resisting what is actually happening in our present reality.
And that brings us to an important distinction:
Acceptance does not mean approval.
We don't have to approve of what's happening. We don't have to like it.
But we can begin by accepting that this is what is happening.
Over the next couple of episodes, we'll take a deeper look at santosha. Next time, we'll get into the Sanskrit of Yoga Sutra 2.42 and what Patanjali tells us can arise from the practice of contentment.
Until then, maybe notice your own version of:
"I'll be happy when…"
What are you waiting for before you allow yourself to be okay?
If My Daily Thread is useful to you, like it, subscribe, share it with someone who might benefit, or send me your questions and comments. We may even bring some of those questions into future Q&A episodes.
Om, Peace, Out!
