Stillness and Santoṣa

Nov 4

Lately, I've been reflecting on the idea of contentment ; not in a passive, shrug-your-shoulders way, but in a deeper, more spiritual sense. In Sanskrit, there's a word for this: Santoṣa. It’s one of the niyamas of yoga, and it refers to a kind of soul-deep peace. A way of being where you’re no longer chasing perfection or needing to control everything. You’re not numbing out or giving up , you’re simply rooted in the truth that what you have, and who you are, is enough right now. The world right now feels very confusing and fast paced and if you chase every worry you’ll drive your self nuts. It’s also a similar lesson I’m often dealing with my two school age daughters. We want to strive to do our best with grades sports and friendships but sometimes you just have to do the best you can , make the best efforts and course and then just trust that it will all work out for your best.

This is also something if I’m being honest I have struggled with for the past 4 years as a small business owner. I built my business and set it up thinking I was going to be running it in a certain way with certain people and with the ever changing world and marketplace it has been like playing a game of wack a mole while trying to not go over budget month to month. This however is my calling. I am an entrepreneur as much as I’m anything else and in some weird way I enjoy the challenge and opportunities to try and win another day. Learning more about my yoga practice though taking a year long yoga teacher training with my favorite local studio has been a great way to balance me out and keep me from being lost in my head with all of my planning and systems. My hope with this little blog was to bring a little bit of that research to you.

Jesus taught this directly as well: "Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink... but seek first His kingdom." It’s not just a call to faith—it’s a call to peace. He was asking us to stop gripping life with white-knuckled fear and start trusting that there is provision, there is purpose, and we are not forgotten.

This peace reminds me of the way my hands settle into rhythm when I’m spinning fiber. There’s a moment, somewhere between the whir of the wheel and the pull of the wool, where I stop striving and start trusting—trusting the tension, the twist, the process. Other times, it shows up in the simplicity of a drop spindle session, or the gentle repetition of a garter stitch scarf. Even a small circle weaving project with wild art yarn becomes a quiet, meditative act of letting go. These are small, sacred gestures of surrender.

In yoga, the physical postures that mirror this kind of acceptance are often found in Yin practice—long, supported holds where we stop pushing and start softening. Poses like Pigeon, Cobbler’s Pose, Firelog, and Forward Fold teach the body what the soul already knows: sometimes the deepest progress comes from yielding.

That’s the kind of strength I want to tap into , not the performative kind, not the hustle , it’s the kind that says, "I know who I am in God. I know I am safe. I know I am loved."

In the books like the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Mary Magdalene and Thomas, the teachings are, "The Kingdom is within you and it is outside you… When you come to know yourselves... you will realize you are the children of the living Father." That’s contentment born from identity, not outcome.

And Mary speaks of a stillness—a kind of inner knowing that transcends the noise of the world. It's not about spiritual escapism. It's about coming home to yourself, where God already dwells.

All of this weaves into a truth I want my daughters to understand: You are not your grades. You are not your achievements. You don’t have to earn peace by being perfect. You already have access to it, through the quiet power of presence, knowing and connecting with something bigger than yourself. I will keep reminding myself all of this too.

Simply put in yoga It’s more important to move your body into the position of trying and breathing not getting the complicated bind or result itself. Self acceptance That’s Santoṣa.