Santosha - sans Spiritual Bypassing

This year has taught me a great deal about santosha (contentment) and its inverse—discontent and suffering.

In the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, santosha is derived from the roots sam—complete and total—and tosha, which means contentment and peace. Santosha is about being at ease with what is. However, the way I hear santosha discussed in yoga circles can be a recipe for spiritual bypassing.

Keep reading to consider how you might practice santosha, without bypassing the hard stuff.

Practicing santosha can be challenging. We live in a world that subtly, or not so subtly, communicates that we are not enough. Our culture perpetuates the notion that more is more. 

Our culture glorifies excess.

Practicing santosha serves as an antidote to this culture of "MORE." Unfortunately, spiritual communities often view santosha as an endpoint in spiritual practice, rather than a starting point. I think this distinction is important. Why?

I am not sure I want my contentment to be a giving up, a giving in or a place of inaction.

For me, although I feel a little Closer to Fine (read that blog), life presents new challenges. I need to be where I am, yet also I necessarily wish to hold hope for my future.

More broadly, the conditions under which many people live, are not something I am ok with. Daily I come face to face with the pro-rich health inequity we have here in Australia.  I don't want to just be ok with that. I don't want my contentment or ease to  enable me to look away from what is hard. So how do I work with the teaching of santosha?

For me, contentment—or santosha—is a radical acceptance of what is.

When faced with difficult circumstances, it’s natural to feel angry, disappointed, or betrayed. These emotions are part of being human. Spiritual practice invites us to be with ourselves and our circumstances completely.

Being with what is, can feel terrifying. 

This year I've experienced a rollercoaster of emotions, from radical forgiveness towards those whose carelessness has caused my family pain to feelings of intense anger and indifference. I've traversed all the emotions in between. I have found myself devastated by the direction of the world and also uplifted by the generosity and joy of community. I have been unsettled at times, and not at ease. Often I have resisted where I am at, where my family is at.

I don't always want to accept what is happening for me, or my family. And that is human nature. My approach to life since our serious accident on Christmas Day has been to

1. Feel it all

2. Stay open

3. Move forwards gently

The feeling it all is radical acceptance.

But this is not an end point. I am not solipsistically deepening my yoga practice as a tool that allows me to bypass the hard stuff. This radical acceptance offers me the place to begin.

We can only start from where we are.

So I practice on my mat each day, being with what is. But not as an end point. 

I cultivate space for santosha to awaken, as a place to begin. 

Want to join me?

View our events or book a class

Yours in yoga,

Jean