Santosha - contentment practice

Hey lovely yogi's

We had a great time in class this week as we explored the second Niyama- Santosha

San - complete

Tosha = contentment, acceptance

I read Thich Nhat Hanh writing on broadcasting your own good news and we created the beautiful pushpaputa hand mudra, 'This hand gesture symbolizes offering a handful of flowers to the divine (and ourselves) as a gesture of devotion and acceptance of divine grace and blessings'.

Into this bowl we put our good energies and gratitudes for what we have and an invitation to let things be, and to not postpone happiness by expecting things beyond our control to be a certain way. That our happiness is not reliant on other people, external achievements or things being the way we want them to be, anything other than the way they are.

We then had a lovely mellow practice to invite ease into one of the hottest days of the year ending with this poem by Danna Faulds.

Getting such great feedback from people at the moment of how yoga has such great and far reaching benefits for body mind and spirit. In a difficult times for me it is yoga that keeps me steady.

Let Go

Let go of the ways you thought lifewould unfold; the holding of plansor dreams or expectations – Let itall go. Save your strength to swimwith the tide.

The choice to fight what is here beforeyou now will only result in struggle,fear, and desperate attempts to fleefrom the very energy you long for.

Let go. Let it all go and flow with thegrace that washes through your dayswhether you receive it gently orwith all your quills raised to defendagainst invaders.

Take this on faith: the mind may neverfind the explanations that it seeks, butyou will move forward nonetheless.

Let go, and the wave’s crest will carryyou to unknown shores, beyond yourwildest dreams or destinations. Let itall go and find the place of rest andpeace, and certain transformation.

Danna Faulds