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  • Writer's pictureKris

Contentment vs Complacency

I was talking to a friend the other day about the Yamas and Niyamas of yoga. When I got to Santosha, contentment, my friend abruptly stopped me and informed me that that was why all yoga people were lazy.



I was taken aback. I asked, "Do you think that I am lazy?"


He quickly responded with, "No, you work harder than most people I know."


So asked him to clarify why he felt that all "yoga people were lazy" if he didn't think I was lazy and I am definitely a "yoga person".


He went on this long explanation that if you are always content you are lazy because you don't want to do anything better with your life. And about how all "yoga people" do is sit around doing yoga and meditating all day long.


I know a lot of people that I would consider "yoga people". Not a single one of them does nothing but sit around doing yoga and meditating all day long.


To be clear, contentment DOES NOT mean complacency. Santosha tells us to be content with our lives as they are. You cannot be happy if you are always looking to the future for your happiness. As cliche as it sounds, it basically is a way of saying that "happiness is and inside job". If you are not content with what you have now, where you are now, how you look now, the job you have now, you won't be happy when you get that raise, lose those last 5 pounds, move into a bigger home, etc. It is the always wanting more that is causing your suffering. (Yes, illness and injury are a real thing, you don't have to enjoy them. You do have to acknowledge that they are real, and do what you can to be content with what you are working with right now.)


I still struggle with Santosha. It is a very western mindset that you aren't doing enough right now. That you aren't working hard enough right now. That your aren't good enough right now. However, if you aren't good enough right now, you can't make your right now you better.


People tend to get stuck on the concept of contentment in spiritual practices. However, yoga also teaches us to study ourselves, Svadhyaya, and be the best version of ourselves as possible, Satya.



As a "yoga person" I am always looking within, through meditation and yin yoga, to see what parts of me need to be worked on and improved. That doesn't mean that I am not content in my being today. It means that I have acknowledged that I have flaws, I am human after-all, and have committed to working on improving them. This knowledge has led to contentment.


I know that the concept of contentment and still improving one's self can be convoluted and frustrating. All I can say, is to trust the process and know that you are doing what is right in your soul.


Kris

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