India is a nation rich in Yoga and Ayurveda. Fortunately, we have many yoga gurus, teachers, and swamis who have pioneered speaking about living a contentful life. Owing to that, I believe I should share my personal experience as a yoga student & express my learnings from a viewpoint of a common man.
In this blog, I will be sharing my process from understanding my flaws and dealing with them, to creating a peaceful environment for me and for everyone around me.
What is a Contented Life?
It is a satisfactory living that makes you accept and feel gratitude towards whatever crosses you. It can be your job, family, money, or future. What became my hurdle while growing up was my failure to understand reality and getting looped in the societal pressure and eventually losing myself. However, Yoga Philosophy helped me to introspect all these problems, comprehend the reason behind them & understand my purpose.
In modern day-to-day life, human beings are surrounded by several things to consume which are served by Institutions and corporations. It can be education, vocation, relationships, or even food for that matter. Each and every segment is always ready to teach on how to live and how to not.
Falling to this, I derived prejudice about life such as success is defined by how much I have accomplished. Although these defined my place in my community, they also controlled and deprived me of the present. But with time, I realized that these perceptions and biases are actually just parts of my thoughts.
What does Yoga Philosophy Teach?
In Patanjali Yoga Sutras it is said,
“Yogascittavrittinirodhah
||1.2||”
It means Yoga is the practice to gradually decrease mind modifications in order to bring awareness within.
Following this mantra I have realized a pattern of understanding and irrespective of whether it affects me or not, I can now consciously make thoughtful decisions in life. Earlier, I kept myself in a position to question everything that came my way. I wanted to either modify it or change it altogether, and if failed. I would prefer to stay angry. Understanding that sometimes things are the way they are, was never a part of my dictionary. This was simply because I couldn’t see beyond my nose and on the basis of that, I would define what I should deserve and what I should not, which is a human-centric perception of the world.
According to Yoga
“ “Maitreekarunamuditopekshanam
sukhaduhkhapunyapunyavishayanam
bhavanatashchittaprasadanam
||1.33||”,
Decoding – we should be friendly, compassionate, grateful, and indifferent towards happy or sad, good or evil.
I feel that I am coexisting with ants and birds, trees and mountains but I would fail to be concerned and compassionate towards all of them equally, as equally as humans. We are part of this universe where we all are sharing this place, and therefore there is nothing that is mine or yours and that I am only a small part in it with a small role.
My Journey Towards Contented Life
The above-shared theory was making me question my entire existence and I used to put myself in a position where I became vulnerable. But at the same time, it gave me a path to think beyond myself and accept the reality as it is and in fact be responsible towards it. This has also given me the freedom to do something without expectations which leads to the next essential learning,
“Ishwarapranidhana
||1.23||”
According to sage Patanjali, Ishwarapranidhana is the action of surrendering to God.
Here, God can be anything like your work, family, or friendship, and surrendering means committing to the present or devotion. I am expecting something in return for whatever I am doing. What if I am not rational about it? And become ready to just ‘give’ and not measure the ‘gains’ from it. This way I did not have disappointments from whatever comes my way, in fact, it became the simplest method to be comfortable with what I had and what I am. Every human being has flaws, for me accepting them without denying them led me to forgive myself and move on. This has effectively changed my perception to deal with anything and feel content.
Closing Thoughts
Every human carries their past with them and is trying to fit themselves in the present for a better future. Until one realizes their potential to surrender to their role in life, one will never feel belonged and eventually feel lost. Accepting one’s reality is not a compromise but a lens to look beyond oneself. Although it is hard, I am genuinely trying to see the borders and boundaries which I have created for myself and others and trying to push that with the help of Yoga. Here to understand that I am just a flower on a tree and that I am not carrying the entire tree, is beautiful. And the key to a peaceful existence is to believe and be happy.
These are the ways I found to live a contented life through Yoga Philosophy.
Mr. Rathinavel M
I am a theatre practitioner with more than 6 years of experience. Currently, I am a writer predominantly in Tamil language. I have done my CCY (2017) in Yoga and am now a Post-graduate Diploma (2021) student in Yoga Education at Kaivalyadhama Yoga Institute, Lonavala.