If I were to ask you how content you are right now, what would your response be?  Do you feel peaceful in this moment, but when you listen to your inner dialog you discover degrees of discontent?  In the second yogic precept of Santosha, or contentment, we are invited to explore the concept of enoughness.

As I'm writing this post, it's a quiet day in my neighborhood.  Even though we're in mid-summer, the temperature is a blissful 77 degrees.  There's a gentle breeze floating through my window, and my dogs are happily napping nearby.  It's pretty easy to feel content.  That is until my brain gets involved.  

Instantly I'm yanked out of my peace and plopped right back into an uncomfortable situation I had to address yesterday.  I can feel my chest tighten, my breath shorten, and my shoulders rise.  Physically, mentally, and emotionally I'm the exact opposite of content.  These cues are trying to remind me to return to the present moment – the one filled with sounds of puppies dreaming and palm fronds swaying.

It can be easy to revisit the past, to dredge up previous intense conversations, or to worry about what the future holds.  With Santosha, we are encouraged to remain in the present moment and appreciate all that's contained inside of it.  And while I love that concept so much, jeepers is it challenging for me to do.  

What you have is enough.  You are enough.

Practicing the principle of Santosha is about being okay with even the yucky times and remembering that we don't have to be a reflection of what's going on in our lives, especially when things aren't stellar at that moment.

The contentment that comes with Santosha is different than the feeling of contentment during the times when everything is peachy keen – like when we live in our favorite place with our favorite people filled with our favorite things.  Those situations are all transitory, capable of changing at any moment.  Instead, Santosha is feeling content and grateful regardless of what's happening outside of ourselves.  It's being satisfied while knowing that life is full of change.

The opposite is when we feel discontent or dissatisfied with things.  When we're in that state of mind, it's easy to get caught up in the swirl of negativity.  The way to return to an internal state of Santosha when you're caught up in the spiral of unhappiness, discontent, lack, and overall blah, is to focus on the good parts of your life.

Notice where your thoughts go when things are tough, intense, less than desirable.  What do you do in the uncomfortable moments?  What is your internal dialog?  Do you take things on and dump all over yourself?  Or do you have a more detached perspective, realizing that you are separate from what happens outside of you?

With the moment-by-moment practice of Santosha, we can help our daily stressors diminish.  While our lives might not be completely stress-free, the way we move through life's currents will be more pleasant.