“You don’t have to change the world or find a real goal to live a meaningful life.
A good life is a good life – something anyone can aspire to, regardless of their dreams or circumstances.”—— Emily Isfahani Smith, have you been evaluating your achievements in the past year and a half as we gradually get rid of the pandemic blockade and take refuge in place? Did you set some goals for yourself at the beginning of the pandemic? If you do, are you frustrated or disappointed that you haven’t completed some or even all of them? Read thousands of pages of psychology, philosophy and neuroscience research to understand “what really makes people satisfied”.
Her conclusion was: “I learned that the most meaningful lives are often not extraordinary.
They are ordinary people who live with dignity.” From the perspective of yoga, there are three important yoga practices that can guide you to achieve this kind of “good life”: karmic yoga, non attachment and contentment (santosha).
I will discuss them briefly next, but about how to practice karmic yoga, the techniques of non attachment and contentment in real life – and any yamas and niyamas.
Karmic Yoga In yoga, being a caring person and doing good deeds in the world means practicing karmic yoga, which requires providing “selfless service” to others and putting the well-being of others first, rather than personal interests or achievements.
Non attachment According to the Bhagavad Gita, the path to peace is to practice “detachment” in everything we do.
We do our work – no matter what it is – with dedication, but not with the results of our actions.
Living a yoga life does not mean that you need to give up your goals, it just means that you need to work towards them rather than stick to the results, so trying to achieve them will not give you pressure, and not achieving them will not make you feel like a “loser”.
Calm down, act decisively, regardless of consequences, and be open to success or failure.
This peace is yoga—— According to the Yoga Sutra, Stephen Mitchell Santosha, contentment (santosha) – according to TKVDesikachar, “the ability to feel at ease about what we have and what we don’t have” – is the source of real happiness.
“2.42 The sense of contentment and kindness will bring supreme happiness.” ——Yoga Sutra, trans.
No matter whether training santosha through TKVDesikachar means making yourself satisfied with what you did or didn’t do during the pandemic, or even with your overall achievements in life, this form of accepting yoga is crucial to achieving inner peace and happiness – that is, what yoga promises.
Conclusion Although we have discussed these topics many times before, I really think they are worth repeating.
Because although Smith said that young people are often bombarded by the information that living a meaningful life “needs to do something extraordinary and remarkable”, we need to remind that “the idea that a meaningful life must be or appear extraordinary is not only elitist, but also misleading.” ——Emily Isfahani Smith Namaste YOGACARE makes yoga return to * * purity, simplicity and unity of body and mind * *..
