Direction.yoga

I started a new account on Instagram for all you yoga interested friends. You are welcome to follow me if you like, direction.yoga ! 

Jag kan ha fel... /Björn Natthiko Lindeblad

Ja, tänk om man skulle kunna sluta att värdera varje situation eller känsla i kroppen utan bara acceptera?

Stay present read signs, do tapas, and be grateful for what you have!

He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have, Socrates

In Yoga philosophy you have the word "Santosha" as my friend like to remind me of;  Santsoha is not only a café here in Mysore where you can have breakfast Hanna, it has a larger meaning as well.  

The word comes from sanskrit and "Sam" would stad for, complete or full. "Tosha" mening is contentment, satisfied with. Santosha is an emotional state one should aim for to be satisfied with the fundamentals in life. To take away desire and expectations to be in peace what whatever the result turns into. Its about accepting the circumstances in a situation and not act with frustration or anger.

Just some thoughts;
We aim so much for something so high as happiness and being in love, finding the true love of our life, living on a constant high, we can't find the middle way and we feel depressed. We look around and think everyone else is much more happier then us. I know life can not always be easy all the time. When I see happy people on social media I am happy for them, not jealous, coz I know we all face hard times in life. We like to share the good times and I am thankful for that. Its up to the prospectors view to not judge and be aware that life can not always be happy moments and experiences all the time. I don't think we need to express our deepest griefs with everyone to make it ok for other people to understand everyone suffers sometimes. Its like being physical ill, we do have professional help and it should be as normal to go and talk to someone about our mental state as seeing a doctor for your physical health. The big reason I think for peoples depressions and todays huge nr of mental unhealth, rots in this lack of understanding the theory of contentment "Santosha". People looking for happiness and it creates this need, and desire. We are not happy with what we have and we seam to focus on what we don't have instead of what we have. My belief is that if I focus on what I am grateful for, life just unfolds. The spiral of positivity goes upwards. Contentment is a stable kind of happiness that will not depend on anything else then from within you, not the weather or you partner for example. But you need to put in the work everyday, every moment, every relationship. When you create this vibration within you people start to like being around you. Its not like one have it or dose´t have it, its how much conciseness and presents you can create to work on this concept. For me its a constant reminder every time I step on my mat in the morning to be present and to be grateful for another day. Its a constant reminder everyday that I need to do on my mat, for me to become more of that energy that I try to create.  

Sometimes I wonder if I would have the same mindset even if i didn't have my practice in the mornings. And I don't know. Muaythai and my life as a fighter made me realize a lot about myself. I became a fighter, I fought with my-slef all the time. Everything that came easy for me I thought was a waist of time. I believe now that whatever you put your energy on you will become. Its a good quality to have this fighting spirit in you, but not all the time. You need to lear to let go. Sometimes when you learn to let go everything unfolds as it should be. To learn how do balance you mind, then everything els will also become more balanced in you life. Yoga and muaythai thought me so much about life and relationships, that I bring with me through my journey.

Life is hard sometime you have to do stuff you don't like. People have this image of yogis as being soft and never really pushes through or fight anything in life, but thats not true, there is a lot of tappas in yoga. Tappas that you need to do and go through for you to understand better. But also learn to let go and surrender as well, its a hard balance. 

Tapas would be explained as your discipline or austerity. The sanskrit world "Tap" would be translated to "to burn" so Tappas is a form of a fiery discipline. To keep a steady self-discapline in life. The self-discapline will brun your impurities mentally, emotionally, and physically. You can't love going to you mat everyday to practice, you can't love having to make dinner to your family everyday or go to work. But you do it anyway. I don't love sitting outside the Shala gate at 3 am in the morning to wait for an 1 h so I can get to practice with Sharath but I do it. Its a kind of tappas. 

Life is this great journey with so many great lessons for us to discover, if we just everyday stay present and try to create this higher level of conciseness, life will become more smooth and peaceful.
When I was a kid I remember being very scared of everything and one period I was so afraid to die or get some kind of decease. Then my aunt told me; Hanna if you stay present the universe always let you know with signs before something will happened. If you learn to read the signs then you will be able to change the outcome. It made me very calm and I remember to always try and make sens of what the universe wanted me to understand. It might sounds very spiritual but its not, or maybe it just what it is. But trusting this theory from my aunt I became so calm, relaxed and present that nothing really bothered me, maybe coz I felt like I had a bit more control over life. 

So, stay present read signs, do tapas and be grateful for what you have.

Santosha and Tappas is explained in Patantjali second limb of the eight limbs of Ashtanga yoga, the Niyamas. Nr 2 Santosha and 3th Tappas.