Santosa: Practicing Self-Compassion & Contentment

I was feeling completely under the weather today. All I wanted to do was sit on the couch and read or sleep. It really is strange when I have days like this because I'm usually the girl who hates to sit down and loves her walks and yoga practice. My instinct is to feel guilty for not having any motivation whatsoever, but you could say that I am a recovering "guilt-addict." :-).

I'm reminded of Santosa, a term we use in yoga that means contentment. Contentment with oneself. It is a step towards inner peace and self-compassion. Santosa is accepting what happens, and it is also living in the present moment and feeling the satisfaction of having enough. Today I practiced santosa by giving myself some compassion and realizing that I am enough, despite my lack of motivation.

Actually, practicing self contentment and compassion today allowed me the freedom to do be kind to myself and give my body some space to rejuvenate without being worn down. I allowed myself to sleep in way past my normal wake up time and I stayed in my PJ's until 10 AM. I took a nap and called my mom and wasn't super productive. But then, in the early afternoon I found the energy to make a batch of brownies for my guy and vacuum and dust the house.

I call that a productive "unproductive" day. I really think it would have been a lot worse if I had been nagging myself all day to be more productive. I'm glad I practiced Santosa instead and was kind to myself and let me just have one of those days.

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