Reminder of Santosa - contentment

In week 7 of this yoga session I wrote a bit about santosa - contentment, and how we need to cultivate this contentment internally.  If we rely only on external factors to determine if we are happy or not..we most likely will find that we are always looking for the next best thing.

I am not sure if you have read the book "Walk Two Moons", by Sharon Creech.  It was the 1995 John Newbery Medal Winner.  I home school my kids so I am re-reading the book again.  In the book a little girl is being sent mysterious messages. It is one of these messages that made me think again about santosa this week.

You can't keep the birds of sadness from flying over your head, but you can keep them from nesting in your hair.

This is life.  There is sadness all around us and the tendency is to avoid the present moment, especially if there is sadness and fill our days with distractions.  But, when we have cultivated that inner contentment, as Mr.Iyengar has said, "We can find comfort, even in our discomfort."