“Joy and opennesss come from our own contented heart.” – Buddha
Weekly Focus: Sutra 2:42 Samtosha Anuttama Sukha Labha
Sutra 2:42, samtosha anuttama sukha labha, translates roughly to “from contentment, unsurpassed happiness is obtained.”
This sutra connects back to the second niyama, santosha, or contentment – a reminder that with contentment, we may find a lasting happiness that comes from within. This sutra is about exploring the abundance within us, and reminding ourselves that we contain all that we need to exist in bliss and peace. This sutra encourages us to find the harmony between ourselves and the world around us.
Sutra 2:42 remins us that joy is within our reach, if we look for it in the right places. We all deserve to be peaceful and content with our Self, and we contain the abundance within us to be so. Life is hard though, and this is not a dismissal of the sadness we may experience or the challenges in life we come across. Yoga helps to provide us with the tools we need to satisfy our deepest desires, and to reduce the seeking outside of ourselves.
There is a beautiful Universe within each one of us, a universe swirling with the chaos of human experience, emotions, narratives, etc. Yoga provides us the tools to build a container for that chaos, to manage and leave behind the frustrations, and to find the bliss within ourselves. Are we looking to find contentment from the validation of those around us? From the job we have to attend each day? From the items we possess? Rather, can we cultivate and grow that peace from with, eventually allowing it to shine forth and be shared with the world?
Here is a simple practice in finding happiness within ourselves:
- Meditate — find quiet space to sit with your thoughts and reflect.
- Remember the bad — allow yourself to reflect on the difficult moments in your life. Remember the struggles you have overcome and the challenges that felt impossible. Compare and contrast between the difficult moments and now.
- Note your progress — consider the progress you have made. Observe in yourself, your ability to overcome challenge, and to make it through to the other side. Journal any significant thoughts or reflections you have.
Passive Pose of the Week: Supta Baddha Konasana (reclined bound angle pose)
Supta baddha konasana is an open posture of both offering and receiving. Use this pose to help you receive the gifts from within yourself, and perhaps to offer them back out to the Universe.
- Begin lying on the floor.
- Slide the feet together so that the soles of the feet touch.
- Allow the knees to open up like a book or butterfly. Pull the feet in as close to the body as is comfortable.
- Hold this posture for 5 – 10 minutes. When you are ready to come out, close the knees and spend a few moments with your back in a neutral position on the floor.
This pose is excellent supported by props. Props will help your body melt into the shape, and allow you to stay longer in the pose. Here are a few ways to prop this pose with common household items: Fold and stack large bath towels (2 – 3) so that they make a rectangular stack, about 2 feet long and at least 10 inches wide. To create an incline, take a small towel and fold it, place it at the back end of your rectangular stack. Lay back over the big towels, and support the back of your head with the small folded towel. Use 1 – 3 thick books stacked behind the back of your thighs so that the hips may be supported and gently open up. Feel the body exhale as you provide it support and the gift of ease.
Active Pose of the Week: Ustrasana (camel pose)
Camels are symbols of patience, endurance, self-sufficiency and stamina. Call upon your reserves (like the water reserves of the camel!) to offer yourself peace and stillness amongst the chaos of everday life – and the challenge of this pose.
- Begin in a kneeling position, pad the knees with a blanket if you like.
- Place blocks on the tallest setting just to the outside of your ankles.
- Reach your right hand back to the block on the right side, and then the left hand back to the left block.
- Shrug the shoulders up and then draw the shoulder blades together, squeezing the upper back.
- Press into the hands or the fingertips and lift the chest up.
- Squeeze your inner thighs and press your hips forward.
- Hold for 3 – 5 breaths before slowly relaxing and coming out.
Ustrasana is a very engage back bend. What’s so lovely about this posture, is that are a wide array of variations we can take depending on what we need, how we feel, or what the mobility of our spine and shoulders may be. A number of different options are outlined in the image above. For a more strengthening variation, try squeezing a block between your thighs and your hands. For a more gentle option exploring the opennes of the lunges, clasp your hands behind the head and simply lean back slightly and breathe. What other variations can you come up with?
Join us in class this week to practice your self-reflection and acknowledgment of the Kleshas. See the full schedule HERE.
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