This week I’m just going to dive straight into our weekly intention which I’m going to base on the second Yama, Santosha. A recap on Santosha for those who missed last week’s email:
Santosha - Contentment -Santosha translates to contentment, or delight, happiness, and joy. Santosha is the practice of being content and finding happiness in our lives as they are today. Its finding peace in acceptance of ourselves, of our life as it is, or of a situation as it is. Happiness is a choice. That's the key, and once you realise this, no matter what comes up in your life, ideal or not, you can still turn inwards and find peace. It's human nature to look over the fence and think that the grass is greener. Santosha is looking at your life and finding joy as it is.
When we really look at Santosha and break it down, underlying is our perception. How we view things. So, what is perception?
Perception; a belief or opinion, often held by many people and based on how things seem:
- We have to change the public’s perception that money is being wasted.
- These photographs will affect people's perceptions of war. (Cambridge Dictionary, 2019)
Santosha as we have learnt is the practice of finding peace in happiness in our lives as they are. It’s viewing things from a place of joy. Perception refers to our sensory experience of the world. It is the process of using our senses to become aware of objects, relationships, and experiences. It is through this experience that we gain information and awareness about the environment around us. The technical process of perception (ie the process our brain undergoes) can be basically broken down into 8 steps –
1) 1) Environmental Stimulus – The world we see around us.
2) 2) Attended Stimulus – The particular object that catches our focused attention.
3) 3) Image on the Retina – The process of light passing through the cornea onto the lens of the eye. This process creates the image that we see.
4) 4) Transduction – Where the image perceived is transmitted to the brain to be interpreted.
5) 5) Neural Processing – Where our brain determines the signal (ie auditory or visual)
6) 6) Perception- Where we perceive the stimulus object that has drawn our attention. This is moment where we become consciously aware.
7) 7) Recognition – Where our brain categorises and interprets the stimulus. Our ability to interpret and give meaning to the object is our recognition. (This is also where our focus on Santosha begins)
8) 8) Action – Where we determine what action to take.
In now having a very basic understanding of how we come to perceive the things we see, we can now take a look at step 7, recognition and step 8, action because this is where it gets broken down further. Perception is how we interpret the environment around us whilst it’s our attitude (emotions, beliefs, and behaviours) that impacts these perceptions. Remember the above statement;
” happiness is a choice”
We all have the freedom to choose how we perceive things, Santosha. Our ability to choose to see the beauty in the things that are around us. The conscious decision to think from a place of positivity.
So, this week, take a look at how you view things. Catch yourself when you are perhaps looking at things from a not so pleasurable viewpoint. Take note of how you feel when you can flip your attitude from one of negativity to one of positivity. Please always remember to do this from a place of compassion and kindness. Part of being human is experiencing all emotions, positive and negative, so to hold yourself to an expectation that you are going to see rainbows and lollipops in everything you see is unrealistic and can be just as detrimental to your mental wellbeing. Perfection does not exist. I have shared in the past that I live with anxiety. For most part I live peacefully and if you know me, you know I’m a happy little soul, but there are some days or even some moments my head turns in on itself and it can be incredibly hard to pull myself out. I feel many of us experience this. Practicing Santosha is a way that I can do this. I hope that it can help you to.
❤️and be kind always.