Yoga Lesson: Contentment

Published on April 17, 2008

One of the five niyamas (internal observances) of Patanjali’s yoga sutras, contentment is considered an essential and fundamental yogic practice. Samtosha (contentment) can be practiced while holding yoga poses by letting go of the desire to attain the perfect looking pose, and to accept the experience of the pose as it is without wanting to change it.

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3 responses to “Yoga Lesson: Contentment”

  1. reggaeyogagirl Avatar
    reggaeyogagirl

    nice lesson. Thanks for sharing.

  2. darrich Avatar
    darrich

    This is wonderful…a perfect lesson for the New Year! Thank you!

  3. Sury Nama Avatar
    Sury Nama

    Thank you. I recently learned about positive space and negative space within your poses but now I can associate this with the eight steps.

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Timothy Burgin Avatar
About the author
Timothy Burgin is a Kripalu & Pranakriya trained yoga instructor living and teaching in Asheville, NC. Timothy has studied and taught many styles of yoga and has completed a 500-hour Advanced Pranakriya Yoga training. Timothy has been serving as the Executive Director of YogaBasics.com since 2000. He has authored two yoga books and has written over 500 articles on the practice and philosophy of yoga. Timothy is also the creator of Japa Mala Beads and has been designing and importing mala beads since 2004.
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