Contentment, Happiness, and My Family

by Nina 

“I know what house my house will be. It will be just right for me. And a house just right for me must have a fireplace inside, daisies in the yard, cows in the pasture, and, most important, a friend near by.” —from Boats Finds a House by Mary Chalmers 

When my brother was a kid, his very favorite book “Boats Finds a House” was about cat that embarks on a search for his perfect home. The cat, Boats, has a very specific list what is needed to make him happy. And it takes a long while for Boats to find his house. He looks at many, many houses and can’t find one that’s just right, which makes him feel discouraged and sad. Of course, in the end, with some help from various friends, he does find the perfect house. 

“It really was just the right house for Boats and he lived happily ever after.” 

I’m not sure whether this book spoke so strongly to brother because of who he already was or whether he was actually inspired by the book, but my brother’s life ended up being a lot like Boat’s life. He, too, had a very specific idea of what the perfect house and life would be for him, and he has spent his whole life searching for it, even traveling to many different parts of the world in his search. But, unlike Boats, though he looked and looked, he still hasn’t found his perfect house and life, and now he’s in his early sixties and at a very low point indeed. 

When I was telling a close friend of our family about this, she said, “He’s so much your father.” And I knew immediately what she was talking about, even though my brother would be quite surprised by this comparison. Because even though my father had a very different kind of list of what it would take to make him happy, he, too, became discouraged and sad when his life didn’t turn out the way he’d hoped.

Later on I was musing to myself about how I’d managed to escape all that. You see, while my life didn’t exactly turn out the way I once dreamed it would—whose does?—I am content with and even grateful for how things have unfolded. Did I manage to escape the curse of being weighed down with a list of what it would take to make me happy because I was a girl and my father didn’t burden me with the ambitions and expectations a father has for a son? (In those days, girls were mainly supposed to just “marry well.”) Or, was it simply because my nature was just more like my mother’s than my dad’s?

All I do know is that when I first encountered yoga philosophy, it spoke powerfully to me. I remember one of the first things I read was Desikachar’s translation of the Yoga Sutras and how struck I was by his definition of santosha (one of the niyamas that a serious yoga practitioner should cultivate) and his translation of sutra 2.42.

“Contentment or the ability to be comfortable with what we have and what we do not have.” —TKV Desikachar 

“2.42 From contentment and benevolence of consciousness come supreme happiness.” –Yoga Sutras, trans. by TKV Desikachar 

In Edwin Bryant’s commentary on sutra 2.42, he explains it this way.  

“This sattvic happiness does not depend on external objects, which are vulnerable and fleeting, but is inherent in the mind when it is tranquil and content.”_Edwin Bryant 

And later on, when I carefully read the Bhagavad Gita, its basic message that it is equanimity that leads to happiness became a guiding light to me ever since.  

“For the pleasures that come from the world bear in them sorrows to come. They come and they go, they are transient: not in them do the wise find joy. 

But he who on this earth, before his departure, can endure the storms of desire and wrath, this man is a Yogi, this man has joy.
 
He has inner joy, he has inner gladness, and he has found inner Light.” —Bhagavad Gita 

How I wish my brother could switch from his “Boats Finds a House” philosophy to this one. But I’m afraid the patterns of his belief system (samskaras?) that only having everything right can make you happy is so strong that there is nothing I can do to make it shift. (Ssshh, I’m going to try, though.)

It is too late for my father. But in the last couple of years of his life, after my mother died and he was living in a retirement community, he did seem to reach some measure of peace. One day I drove him by the old house in Berkeley where he had lived with my mother for 15 years after he retired, and said, “I had a pretty good life, didn’t I? I had an interesting career, and a wonderful wife, and I built a beautiful house in Los Angeles…” 

“Yes,” I said. “You did.” 

For more information, see Yoga and the Pursuit of Happiness and Yoga Philosophy: Contentment

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Enough

by Beth Gibbs

Beth Gibbs, Age 71

What does it mean to have enough? How much food, shelter, clothing, money, health and well-being is enough? And perhaps, more importantly, what does it mean to be enough? The answer will vary from person to person and depend on many factors. For me, fortunately, having enough was not an issue; but being enough was my sticking point and the factors were personal and cultural. In 1980, I was thirty-seven years old, divorced, a single parent with a full-time job in broadcasting and twenty-one credits toward a Master's degree in communications. Picture that scenario and read the subtitle: 

Middle-class, African-American woman/feminist tries to “do it all” and be a “credit to the race” to prove herself competent, capable, connected, and enough. 

For those who may not understand the “credit to the race” reference, it’s a term used by many minority groups whose difference in race or ethnicity is an implication that each of us needs to earn respect, not as an individual with distinct talents and skills but on behalf of the whole group, to help dispel or at least not add to stereotypes often held by the majority. That’s a heavy burden and it weighed heavily on my mind. 

The cues I was getting from society and my family fed my directives as a woman to “do it all” and as an African-American to be a “credit to the race,” but inside I felt crazy. Underneath my struggling and juggling, I was constipated and stressed. I developed TMJ (temporal mandibular joint dysfunction). There was not enough time, not enough energy, and not enough of me to go around and do all that was expected of me and all that I expected from myself. What to do? I started practicing yoga. First because the postures helped me release and manage stress, and then because I felt yoga doing something else that I could not put my finger on.

By the time 1995 rolled around, I got a glimpse of that “something else” when I began learning about Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras from I. K. Taimni's book The Science of Yoga. As I read through niyama, the second set of yoga disciplines that lay the foundation of yogic life, I was drawn to sutra 2.42 and immediately recognized that santosha (contentment) was a concept that resonated deeply to my feelings of “not being enough.”

“It is necessary for the aspirant for the Yogic life to cultivate contentment of the highest order because without it there is no possibility of keeping the mind in a condition of equilibrium."

I figured if I could cultivate a sense of contentment, maybe I could recognize or create an internal sense that who I was, was enough. Tall order but worth working on. Fast forward to 2002. By this time, I realized that I could not “do it all’”without risking my health and my sanity. I had given up the business suits and heels, along with several committee and board positions. And, yes, as a result, external validation from a number of people and organizations melted away like cold butter on a warm summer sidewalk. I was still struggling with the “credit to the race” directive but had begun questioning what that really meant. Did I truly need to fit someone else’s image of what that was or looked like? Could I be a “credit to the race” and still be me? I didn’t know but I felt myself inching closer to santosha and that was a huge payoff in my mind. 

It was a yoga weekend in New York’s Catskill Mountains when the concept of santosha shifted from an intellectual idea to a cellular understanding. I was in the middle of a sweat-popping Sun Salutation strength series, struggling to hold up my body's weight on one foot and one hand in Side Arm Balance. 

"Hang in there," said the teacher. "Breathe. Feel your power. Let me hear some deep sighs." I sighed and hung in. Next came alternate leg lifts and Locust pose. I followed along carefully, feeling how much my spine had loosened up over the years. Glued to the ground from chin to pelvis, I inhaled both my legs off the ground and felt them "float up." 

"This is a powerful strengthener for the back," said the teacher, "so squeeze that butt. A few groans and sighs would feel good about now." My legs ached with the effort but I groaned and sighed and squeezed and held just a bit longer than I thought I could before lowering them. At last Savasana!

"Just let yourself blob out on the ground and feel the energy circulate." Her voice was soft, soothing and very musical. "Welcome the benefits of the universe. Feel yourself melt into the ground. Breathe deeply. Inhale through the head; roll the breath down the body. Exhale it out through the toes. Relax."

Being away from home with all family and work responsibilities postponed, I found myself, in that moment, floating somewhere between here and there at the same time. Grace, surrender and santosha! In The Secret Power of Yoga, Nischala Joy Devi, comments on Sutra 2.42:

“When at peace and content with oneself and others (Santosha), supreme joy is celebrated. By this affirmation, we firmly identify with our inner essence rather than with external objects. Our identification then travels with gratitude, appreciating how much we have rather than how much we want.” 

It was a long process but when I look back, I realize that it took 37 years for the threads of external directives, striving, and “not enough” to tie themselves into knots big enough to feel. So, does it really matter that it took another 35 years to untie the knots and let the threads dissolve? Nope. In the end, the only thing that matters is that through yoga, I found the discipline to work the issue through moment-by-moment, bit-by-bit, and thread-by-thread. 

Today at 71, I’m a lot better at managing stress. I haven't been constipated in years. My TMJ bite plate gathers mildew on the top shelf of the medicine cabinet. And my daily yoga practice is as important to me as breathing. Of, course, the physical practice does not look like it did in 2002. Pranayama and meditation make up a larger percentage. My physical practice varies depending upon my needs for the day. Sometimes it’s stronger—I love Plank poses! And sometimes it’s slow, flowing Sun Salutations or 10 minutes in Legs-up-the-Chair pose. I rejoice in the fact that underneath the “African,” underneath the “American,” and underneath the “woman,” is a being who can occasionally and surprisingly "be here now" and be content. In those moments, I can rest amid chaos and be present in the midst of my life with all its joys and problems. I can experience this and me at the same time. I am competent, capable, connected, and a credit to universal consciousness in all its forms. And that is enough.

Beth Gibbs, MA, E-RYT 500, is a certified yoga therapist through Integrative Yoga Therapy. She is a senior member of the IYT teaching faculty and directs the school’s Professional Yoga Therapist Internship Program. Beth has a Masters degree in Yoga Therapy and Mind/Body Health from Lesley University in Cambridge, MA, and has served on the Educational Standards Committee for the International Association of Yoga Therapists. Her website is: proyogatherapeutics.com.

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Honesty and Contentment in the Yoga Room

by Nina

Friendship, Love and Truth by Currier and Ives*

Yesterday, Ram’s post about arjava and being honest in your yoga practice spoke directly to something I’ve been thinking about recently. (I love it when that happens!) In Arjava: Cultivating Honesty, Ram said, “on the mat you have a choice to be honest to yourself by respecting and listening to your body or disregarding the harmful warning signs from your body.”

In our post How to Stay Safe While Practicing Yoga, we recommended safety guidelines that you should follow whether you are practicing at home or in a class. In all honesty, I have to say that practicing wisely according to those guidelines may often mean there’s a pose, group of poses, or practice you cannot or should not be doing, sometimes temporarily and sometimes permanently.

This can be hard. It’s natural to feel left out when other people in your class or other people you know are doing a pose that you cannot or should not do. It’s also challenging for us long-time practitioners to say goodbye to poses that we used to be able to do (see Goodbye, Lotus Pose for info). But rest assured that you are not missing out on anything essential. Regardless of your limitations, there are still effective ways to foster strength, flexibility, balance, and agility, and to manage your stress levels. That’s why we have four versions of every pose we recommend, as well as alternate poses. And, of course, the experience of practicing asana mindfully, as a moving meditation, is available to everyone, no matter your limitations. Simply bring your awareness to your breath or to any other physical sensation as your practice. (See Practicing Yoga Mindfully for more information on practicing yoga mindfully.)

Practicing arjava in the yoga room is also an opportunity to experiment with cultivating contentment in the safe space (see Yoga Philosophy: Contentment). After you are honest with yourself about what you should and should not be doing, gently remind yourself that you can be content with what you have and what you don’t have. You’ll then find that you can enjoy your time on the mat, no matter which poses you can’t do. (I know this, because I've been through it myself. There are some poses that I used to practice that I can no longer do, such as Lotus pose, Half Lotus, and certain backbends. And there are some poses I'm temporarily avoiding at the moment due to lower back strain, such as seated forward bends and kicking up into certain arm balances. Yet even during my worst periods of limitations, such as when I had a frozen shoulder and could barely move my arm, I have never failed to find a satisfying way to practice.)

And cultivating contentment in the yoga room will strengthen your equanimity muscles while you strengthen your physical ones. You can then take your experience of becoming content with what you have and what you don’t have out into the world at large. 

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The Second Branch of Yoga: The Niyamas (Your "To Do" List)

by Ram

Path at La Cavee, Pourville by Claude Monet

In my post Ashtanga Yoga: Following the Eight-Fold Path Ashtanga Yoga: Following the Eight-Fold Path, I defined Ashtanga Yoga (Ashta=eight; Anga=limbs) as the eight-fold path/eight rungs/limbs/steps of yoga, whose practice helps us to discriminate between ignorance and awareness and truth from illusion which is the means for liberation or enlightenment. I followed it up by discussing the first of the eight steps Yamas  as moral and ethical strategies that guide us to lead a conscious, honest and ethical life.

Today’s article focuses on Niyamas, the second of the eight rungs or limbs. If the Yamas are "don't do" practices," the Niyamas are the “to do” practices. These are personal observances/practices of self-training and deal with how we relate to the environment around us as well as to our own selves. The five niyamas are: 

1. Saucha=cleanliness
2. Santosha=contentment
3. Tapas=spiritual austerities
4. Svadhyaya=study of the sacred scriptures and of one's self
5. Isvara pranidhana=surrender to divinity 

Saucha (Cleanliness): Many teachers discuss this topic as cleanliness of the body. But Saucha is cleanliness and purification at the level of both body and mind. In addition to keeping our body clean and eating healthy food, it also includes harboring pure thoughts. A purified body brings clarity and purity to the mind. A clear and pure mind draws only harmonious impressions that allow the individual to walk on the path of truth, so Saucha lays the foundation to understand our true nature. Therefore, it becomes essential to find time each day to practice the observance of Saucha. 

Santosha (Happiness/Contentment):  To be contented and happy even while experiencing life’s difficulties becomes a process of growth through all kinds of circumstances. Santosha means being happy with what we have rather than being unhappy about what we don't have. Humans are always seeking for more and never seem contented with their materialistic possessions and internal fantasies. This leads to misery and triggers the disease process. However, if we are contented with our wants, wishes and needs, and truly happy with our lifestyle and what we currently have, it will help us in the journey to absolute truth and the highest realization. Your own test for Santosha would be about whether you respond through the five senses and react to the changes in all the circumstances of life or whether you listen to your inner voice and are not swayed by the material instincts. For more on this, read my article Santosha: Happiness and Longevity.

Tapas (Spiritual Austerities): This term is derived from the root word “taph,” which means blaze, burning, discipline, and illumination, and refers to a burning desire or a disciplinary approach to achieve one’s aims and aspirations. Several teachers translate this term to mean austerities; the reason being that in order to reach your goal in life, you need to have motivation, fiery discipline, focus and intense commitment. These qualities help to burn/ward off the mental obstacles and physical impediments that keep us from being in the true state of yoga. The goals of Tapas are:

• stopping being dictated by the five senses
• reigning in the mind
• listening to the voice of intellect
• performing mindful actions

When you act from your intellect and nurture your burning aspirations, you are freeing yourself from the many mindless actions that cause suffering. The effort you use when you engage tapas is directed toward cultivating meaningful and healthful habits whose practice now seem effortless. No longer is it a discipline, but a way of life.

Svadhyaya (Self Study): This term is derived from the root words Sva=Self and Adhyaya= study, education, knowledge, wisdom. I interpret Svadhyaya as education of the self, introspection, and self-realization. Self-study and realization help the mind to become clear or pure and develop deeper mind-body awareness. A clear mind is not affected by stress and produces a healthy body, thus creating a greater connection with one's own pure, essential nature. The path to self-realization is also through introspection and contemplation of our own life’s lessons. Introspecting about our emotions, thoughts, actions, and reactions helps us to learn about our own self and our true nature. When we reflect on our flaws and allow our mistakes to serve as learning lessons, we have the opportunity to grow. By turning a witness to your own self, you begin to notice what’s happening within you—your sensations, thoughts, emotions, and feelings—thus, through the process of self study you are empowering your self. 

Ishvara Pranidhana (Surrender to Divinity): This term is derived from the root words Isvara=state of collective consciousness and pranidhana=presence, dedication, devotion, and surrender to the fruits of practice. When we expand our individual consciousness and merge with the universal consciousness, we experience true self. Our world is a reflection of our own consciousness, and our experiences in the world are determined by what is going on within our consciousness. This individual identity masks the true nature of consciousness. Through the process of awakening and surrendering to the outcome of our actions we have the ability to take actions that do not serve the ego but which originate from our own consciousness. Through study, inquiry, reflection, and awareness, our consciousness is able to pierce through the illusory world, achieve mind-body awareness, and ultimately attain enlightenment. Notice and observe that ultimate state is divine, loving, and peaceful, and gives the feeling of oneness with body, mind and spirit.

Thus, Niyamas help us to perform those activities that not only empower us but the society around us as well. Such beneficial activities do not disturb the Self’s natural balance and the environment around us. Performing these activities assists us in gradually recognizing our true nature. The body is at ease; the mind attains peace.

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Depression Accelerates Unhealthy Aging

by Ram

by Melina Meza

In the Sadhana Pada of the Yoga Sutras by Patanjali we are introduced to the eight rungs/limbs/steps of yoga, whose practice helps us develop attention as a tool for discriminating between ignorance and awareness and truth from illusion as the means for liberation or enlightenment. The second limb/step contains five niyamas or observances/practices of self-training and deals with how we relate to ourselves inwardly. One of the five niyamas is santosha, which means “contentment” or “true happiness.” To be contented and happy even while experiencing life’s difficulties is a process of growth through all kinds of circumstances. We need to accept that there is a purpose for everything and cultivate contentment even if the final outcome of the purpose is unforeseen and unfavorable. It also means being happy with what we have rather than being unhappy about what we don't have. Humans in general are never contented with what they possess and are always desirous of some materialistic pleasure, and if these pleasures do not get fulfilled, it triggers depression, discontentment, unhappiness, frustration, anger and loss of mental peace leading to a disharmonious life. If we are truly contented with our needs and justly happy with our lifestyle and what we currently have, it will help us in the journey to absolute truth and the highest realization.

In one of my earlier posts Anger Management: Philosophy, Science, and Yoga, I discussed research studies from health professionals, behavioral scientists, psychologists and others indicating that rage and anger are definitely hazardous to health. Yet another emotional state that triggers unhealthy aging is depression. Past studies have already associated depression with diabetes, cancer, obesity and heart disease. Depression is an extremely complex disease and depressed individuals feel overwhelmed with sadness and loneliness for unknown reasons. Depression prevents an individual from enjoying life. Additionally, its effects go far beyond mood alone as it also impacts energy, sleep, appetite, and physical health. Factors that trigger depression include but are not limited to abuse, certain medications, personal/professional/social conflicts, death or a loss of a loved one, chronic illness, genetics, substance abuse, some traumatic experience, social isolation, and so on.

Now a recent study Major depressive disorder and accelerated cellular aging: results from a large psychiatric cohort study suggests that severe depression may trigger rapid and unhealthy aging. According to this new study, severe depression doesn't just affect the mind, but it also attacks the body on a cellular level and speeds up the aging process. In this study performed jointly by researchers from Netherlands and UC San Francisco, depressed individuals were shown to have accelerated cellular aging by nearly six years, suggesting that these people age significantly faster compared with people without the disorder. The study involved 1,095 patients suffering from severe depression alongside 802 people who had recovered from depression and 510 healthy individuals who had no history of the disorder. Researchers measured the length of cell structures called telomeres, which are "caps" at the end of chromosomes that protect the DNA during cell division. For more on telomeres and longevity, see Baxter’s very informative post Aging, Telomeres, and Yoga.

Normally, telomeres shorten with each cell division and this shortening serves as an index of a cell's aging. Thus, telomeres may be an indicator of longer cell life, and by extension, longer overall lifespan. In the above-mentioned study, depressed individuals had significantly shorter telomeres compared with people in the control group suggesting that cellular aging in people with depression is accelerated by several years. The severity of a person's depression as well as a longer duration of symptoms resulted in an even shorter telomere length. Notably, the results held after controlling for other lifestyle variables—including weight, drinking and smoking—that are also known to contribute to aging. While other research has suggested that lifestyle interventions may have significant benefits for the aging process, it remains to be seen as to whether fruitful interventions for depressed individuals would have an impact on depression and reverse the aging process.

People are looking for ways to bring peace and santosha in their lives and santosha seems to be the most sought after principle in the world today (see Santosha: Happiness and Longevity). The good news is that depression is not an inevitable part of aging, and there are many steps and lifestyle changes that a depressed individual can also take to overcome the symptoms and the challenges they face to bring santosha into their lives. One recommendation is to practice yoga asana, meditation and pranayama, all of which have been shown to reduce the impact of exaggerated stress responses and be helpful for people with severe depression (for suggested practices, see Tamasic and Rajasic Depression and other posts on depression by Nina). Research from several groups has already demonstrated the therapeutic effects of yoga, meditation and pranayama in reducing the parameters of stress, including cortisol, thereby bringing about relief from depression.

Researchers and practitioners alike agree that a combination of yoga, meditation and pranayama is a relatively low-risk, high-yield approach not only to reverse depression and aging but also to improve overall health. The above, together with other findings suggest that depression can be turned into happiness to causally influence health and healthy aging. Albert Ellis, the noted American psychologist once remarked, “You largely constructed your depression. It wasn't given to you. Therefore, you can deconstruct it.” So how about using yoga to deconstruct depression and bring santosha in our own lives!

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Practicing with Pain

by Nina

Needle and Ice by Melina Meza

When a man has mastered himself,
he is perfectly at ease in cold,
in heat, in pleasure or pain,
in honor or disgrace

—Bhagavad Gita, trans. by Stephen Mitchell

We get many comments on our blog, but every once in a while there is one that makes me feel sad, like this one, which one of our readers left on a post about menopause:

This will certainly be relevant for me (65). Besides ongoing extreme irritability, yoga is not the joy it has always been for me because of joint stiffness and pain. What little stability I felt in life came from yoga, and feel that slipping away when I need it most.

My first reaction to this was to write to Shari and suggest that she write about menopause and joint pain because I knew that she, too, was currently suffering from joint problems (see Yoga for Menopause: Joint Problems). But even after ensuring that this topic was going to be addressed, I was concerned about the underlying issue:

yoga is not the joy it has always been 

what stability in life that came from yoga is slipping away

The thing is, I don't believe that physical pain means that yoga practice needs to be less joyful, or that the stability that practice brings will slip away if your asanas hurt more than they used to. And I speak from experience. Now that I'm over two bouts of frozen shoulder (which, trust me, were very painful), I'm still living with an arthritic hip that's not going to go away. So for many years, I've experienced pain when I practice asana at home or during a class. And, of course, I definitely cannot practice many of the poses I used to do on a regular basis. However, practicing yoga is still a positive, life-affirming experience for me, and as joyful as it ever was.

Because, after all, what is yoga? Definitions of yoga in the scriptures vary from "yoga is equanimity" to "yoga is cessation of the fluctuations of the mind" but nowhere is there anything about practicing pain-free asana. Indeed, as the quote at the beginning of the post tells us, being a yogi means being equally at ease in pain as in pleasure.

Both Ram and I have written about cultivating santosha as an important part of yoga practice (see Santosha: Happiness and Longevity  and Yoga and the Pursuit of Happiness ). Santosha means "contentment" and TKV Desikachar defines contentment as "the ability to be comfortable with what we have and what we do not have." And I believe that being comfortable with what we have and what we do not have must include practicing asana while in physical pain and being comfortable with that. And as for the joy, the Yoga Sutras tells us in sutra 2.42 "Perfect happiness is attained through contentment."

So the path back to joy is not through the elimination of pain, but rather through cultivating contentment. In his post Achieving Stillness in Turbulent Situations Ram told us how his grandfather taught him to meditate in a train station in India because achieving stillness in a noisy, chaotic environment was what the practice of meditation was all about. Likewise, I feel that learning how to find contentment in our asana practice, even while in physical pain, is also the essence of yoga. (Of course, you should continue to use pain as a guide to practicing safely as Shari describes in her post Yoga for Menopause: Joint Problems.)

So dear commenter and all our other readers, while I hope you may find some helpful hints on this blog that will help reduce your physical pain, we cannot remove all pain from your life  But we can offer you something more valuable. For practicing yoga by cultivating santosha inside and outside the yoga room will help see you through life's challenges in whatever form they take. As I wrote in my post Yoga and the Pursuit of Happiness, the Yoga Sutras make it clear which steps to take on that journey:

1.12 Practice and detachment are the means to still the movements of consciousness.

1.33 Through cultivation of friendliness, compassion, joy, and indifference to pleasure and pain, virtue and vice respectively, the consciousness becomes favorably disposed, serene and benevolent.

1.34 Or, by maintaining the pensive state felt at the time of soft and steady exhalation and during passive retention after exhalation.

1.35 Or, by contemplating an object that helps to maintain steadiness of mind and consciousness.

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Santosha, Smiling and Longevity

by Ram

by Norman Rockwell

In my previous article regarding santosha, Santosha: Happiness and Longevity, I mentioned that discontentment and unhappiness arise when we get caught up in the materialistic world. If we are happy with our lifestyle and what we currently have, it will help us in the journey to absolute truth and the highest realization.

Santosha Anuttamah Sukha Labhah

From an attitude of contentment/true happiness (santosha), mental comfort, joy, and satisfaction (anuttamah sukha) are obtained. —Yoga Sutras, translated by Swami Jnaneshvara.

This observation was supported by a scientific study that showed that people who are contented are not only healthier but they may also live longer (see Santosha: Happiness and Longevity).

There are several ways of expressing santosha or happiness. One visible way of showing that you are happy and contented is through a SMILE. Smiles can be warm, beautiful, welcoming, cute, innocent, charming or heart melting. A smile of any kind has the same positive effect: it brightens up the people surrounding the smiling person. Smile and notice that the people around smile with you. The world changes based on a person's perception and outlook, and having a smile on the face not only reveals the radiance of the person smiling but it also makes the individual a pleasurable person to be around.

A person with a smile not only mitigates the suffering around but also boosts up someone else's existence, even if it is for a fleeting moment. People tend to trust and cooperate more with individuals who sport a smile. Moreover, smiling is infectious; a smiling individual lightens up the room, change the moods of others, brings happiness along and attracts more people. Several scientific studies suggest that people who smile a lot are not only happy and contented, they are also more stable, happier in their marriages, have better cognitive skills and interpersonal skills. And now there’s an additional benefit that comes with a smile: it adds years to your life.

A study by researchers at Wayne State University concludes that a smile has an impact on aging and life expectancy. The wider you grin and the deeper you smile, the more likely you are to have a healthy aging and longer existence. For the study the researchers analyzed 230 pictures of major league baseball players who began their careers in professional baseball before 1950. The photos were enlarged and a rating of their smile intensity (big smile, partial smile, no smile) was noted. Researchers then ranked the players according to their smiles and laughter lines (length of the creases). The players smile ratings were compared with data from deaths that occurred from 2006 through 2009. The conclusions from the study:

1. Players with big smiles (n=23) lived an average 79.9 years.
2. Players with partial smiles (n=64) lived an average of 75 years. 
3. Players with no smiles (n=63) lived an average of 72 years. 

The above results did not change when the researchers also corrected for other factors associated with longevity. Furthermore, the researchers also noted that the benefits did not extend to players who put out a false smile but only those who looked truly happy had the extra life expectancy.

One may wonder how the act of opening the lips wide and bringing on a smile triggers all of the above-mentioned benefits including longer lifespan? Studies have shown that a simple smile triggers several positive changes in the body. Smiling helps to boost the immune system, which provides resistance from many diseases. Smiling relieves stress, lowers blood pressure, triggers the release of endogenous pain killers and changes the mood attitude for the better, all of which help in graceful aging.

So how about bringing santosha in the form of a wide smile in your own lives as well? Smile as much as you can, even if you are not on camera!

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Santosha: Happiness and Longevity

by Ram

Chicken on Hawaii Beach by Brad Gibson

In the Sadhana Pada of the Yoga Sutras by Patanjali we are introduced to the eight rungs/limbs/steps of yoga whose practice helps us to develop attention as a tool to discriminate between ignorance and awareness and truth from illusion which is the means for liberation or enlightenment. The first two of these rungs or limbs are the yamas and niyamas that can be looked at as universal morality and personal observances. The practices of yamas and niyamas lay the foundation from which to develop all the other subtle practices. The second limb contains the five niyamas or observances/practices of self-training, and deals with how we relate to ourselves inwardly. One of the five niyamas is santosha, which means contentment or true happiness.

Santosha Anuttamah Sukha Labhah
From an attitude of contentment/true happiness (santosha), mental comfort, joy, and satisfaction (anuttamah sukha) are obtained. —Swami Jnaneshvara  

To be contented and happy, even while experiencing life’s difficulties, becomes a process of growth through all kinds of circumstances (see Yoga and the Pursuit of Happiness). We should accept that there is a purpose for everything and we cultivate contentment to accept what happens. It means being happy with what we have rather than being unhappy about what we don't have. Humans seem to always be seeking satisfaction in the materialistic world and our internal fantasies. However, if we are contented with our wants, wishes and needs and truly happy with our lifestyle and what we currently have, it will help us in the journey to absolute truth and the highest realization. Discontentment and unhappiness arises when we get caught up in this materialistic world. Our desires and needs for material possessions, if left unfulfilled, create frustration, anger and loss of mental peace, leading to a disharmonious life (see Anger Management: Philosophy, Science and Yoga).

People are looking for ways to bring that peace and santosha in their lives, and so not surprisingly santosha seems to be the most sought after "principle" in the world today. Your own test for santosha would be about whether you respond through the five senses and react to the changes in all the circumstances of life or whether you listen to your inner voice and are not swayed by the material instincts.

In my previous post  I emphasized the principle of karmayoga or selfless service (see Selfless Service for Harmonious Longevity). Karmayogis are known to constantly live in a world of true happiness. What could you possibly achieve by experiencing true happiness? Among several other benefits, true happiness is now known to extend longevity. Happy people have an advantage over unhappy ones—they are not only healthier but they may also live longer. This is the conclusion drawn from a review published in Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being thus confirming the need to be happy for a healthy living as advocated in the yoga sutras. The research study compared 160 studies that examined several types of emotions defined as subjective well being (SWB). These included life satisfaction, optimism, hopefulness, sense of humor and other positive emotions. The summary of the findings include:

1. Happy people exhibited a high SWB as compared to less happy individuals.
2. Happy people with a high SWB had better health and longevity.
3. A high SWB (exhibited by happy people) was related to lower mortality rate in both healthy and diseased populations.
4. Unhappy and stressed people (having a low SWB) had higher blood pressure levels and low immune response as compared to happy people with high SWB.

The above together with other findings suggest that happiness measured as subjective well being causally influences health and longevity. So how about bringing that santosha in your own lives as well? It’s no wonder that Bobby McFerrin gyrated and swooned to the tunes of “Don't Worry, Be Happy.”

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