8 Limbs of Yoga,  Niyama

Santosa.Loneliness.Trust

August 4, 2019 / 129 Comments

Contentment 

If we practice contentment, it can bring peace and freedom into our lives.  When I practice contentment I face some realities in my life that weren’t planned the way I envisioned and thus trust comes into play. 

In Patajanli’s Yoga Sutra, he outlines the 8 limbs that make up Yoga.  The eight limbs are…(Heart of Yoga, T.K.V. Desikachar) 

  1. Yamas Ethical Standards
  2. Niyamas Self Discipline
  3. Asana Poses
  4. Pranayama Breath Control
  5. Pratyahara Withdrawl
  6. Dharana Concentration 
  7. Dhyana Mediation
  8. Samadhi To Bring Together, To Merge 

Santosa is a Niyama which means contentment and essentially means to be ok with what God has given to you in the present moment.  When we set expectations upon ourselves for a certain result in our lives we are often left disappointed because it doesn’t go the way we envisioned.  

Loneliness

I’ve been raising my boys by myself for the majority of their lives, their father and I divorced 12 years ago and since then it’s been just us.  

Last week I went on a yoga retreat, my intention for my retreat was to reset, reset from myself burying my energy into my career, why? Because I now know that is what I do when I hide from my emotions and feelings.

I’m hiding from loneliness.  I’ve been single for 12 years, and within those years I’ve had 3 solid relationships that have taught me more about love then I could have by myself.

This loneliness that I’m hiding from is of a different form, it’s more intense – it’s encompassing all of my relationships.  My boys are getting older spending more and more time outside of our home, my friendships are turning into acquaintances and my romantic relationship that I desire is not in existence.  

During my retreat, we were meditating and I could literally feel my heart and aura so full of love and it immediately created this emotion of happiness inside of me.  Immediately afterwards I’m reminded of my current situation of my relationships slowly fading away in the distance.  So it got me thinking, are they fading away permanently or are they fading away to give me space to feel this loneliness? 

Trust

Here I was this week, it was the FIRST day of the month FIRST day of the new moon FIRST day being out of the mercury retrograde – it’s a great day! I could feel the intense energy lift that was felt throughout the month of July and it felt great.  I didn’t feel my judgments of my thoughts, I didn’t feel weighed down and I felt light and free. But during this last month with this intense energy I reflected on what I want in this life and it came to me – it’s love.  No matter how much hard work I put into my day job, my yoga business, the desire for real love is there and I can’t run from it – so I’m not even going to try anymore.

This period of loneliness is one that can bring great sadness to my heart because I have a lot of love to give, however if I give it the space that it obviously needs, I’m left with just me and my pure genuine thoughts, that I can’t run from.

It’s like the saying that if something in a situation keeps coming up in your life it’s because you aren’t learning from it, so God will continuously keep putting that lesson in your path until you learn the lesson that it’s trying to teach you.  With my faith and trust in God and the divine cosmic intervention of our world I know that the connection that I desire will come to me in all my relationships in the form that is right for me, but for right now in this present moment, I will practice santosa and trust.

 

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