The Art of Contentment
At our yin yoga session on Sunday we touched on the yoga value of contentment. I'm finding now is a great time for reflection, and drawing upon the timeless values of yoga.
Feeling good about our self whether we are flourishing or falling apart is embracing the art of contentment. It's part of the human experience to have the highs and lows in life, so the question is, how are we choosing to respond in all situations?
The practice of yoga helps us find presence and contentment. It invites us to accept our self as we are, and at the same time be open to the process of personal growth. Its like a balancing act - in one hand we hold a place for learning, evolving, and growing our inner strengths, while in our other hand knowing we are perfect as we are (even with our perceived imperfections!). By the way, contentment is not being passive. We can still pursue our goals while simultaneously living with gratitude for what we have.
For me personally, embracing contentment is two part:
Finding presence
We can find contentment when we choose to stay in the present moment and not just be caught up in the past or future. Yoga is the best way to help us with this - we put multitasking aside and bring all our awareness to the sensations in our body, and our quality of breath as we move through the poses. Cultivating stillness of the mind through getting into our bodies is a fabulous scientifically proven way to ease anxious tendencies and find inner peace and presence.
Noticing our self talk
Over time, with a commitment to personal growth we can become more aware of our inner voice that can sometimes obsesses about ‘what still needs improving’. The more we reflect and become present, the more we notice this is simply social conditioning - the mental habits we pick up from our parents, messages on social media, and society that often tells us we need to do more to feel whole or complete, or we are not enough as we are.
For me personally, practicing yoga has helped me get better at noticing my mental chatter. I can catch myself and replace this unhelpful mental chatter with more helpful and positive self talk - such as "I accept myself" in both situations - whether I'm struggling or flourishing in life. I also practice saying to myself "I am so grateful for what I do have in my life already". It helps me move into a more positive mindset, and a place of caring for myself, and soothing myself, rather than feeling like I'm always striving, or not doing well enough.
So whats the opportunity? Contentment is a habit, and a skill we can get better at. We invite our self to move a little more from our head, and into our heart. And what is the starting point? We take mini breaks in our daily life to cultivate presence.
Take a breath, notice the inhale, notice the exhale…..our mind wanders off, with kindness toward our self, we come back to our breath…
Jo Jarden is a certified personal trainer and yoga teacher in Christchurch New Zealand and the founder of Heart and Mind Yoga studio. She has 10 years’ experience in health promotion in New Zealand and Australia including management and promotion of national chronic disease prevention programs. She now helps people one on one with their wellbeing through yoga teaching, personal training, workplace yoga and wellbeing workshops.
See the classes on offer at Heart and Mind Yoga here
Qualifications include:
Certified Yoga Teacher Santosha Yoga Institute, Registered Australian Yoga Alliance 2017
Certificate in Advanced Personal Training, Fit College New Zealand, 2016
Bachelor of Science with Honours Public Health. University of Canterbury, New Zealand 2006
Bachelor of Arts Mass Communication and Psychology. University of Canterbury, New Zealand 2005