Observing the ocean is a rare treat and I took advantage last week while traveling with our HS band. There’s probably a symbolic message from the ocean to illustrate every yama and niyama but the first one that came to mind was Santosha or contentment.
The constant, ever-present, ever-full ocean is perfect contentment. It has everything to offer and loses nothing even when a wave leaves the larger body of water and laps up on the shore. The waves crash and bluster with noise and white caps and then they creep up the shoreline until calmly drawn back into the ocean.
This forceful crashing of waves and peaceful returning to ocean is like our constant flow of emotions as we experience each day. We feel excitement, happiness, satisfaction, love and we also feel discontent, anger, sadness or worry and these emotions give us sensations in the body. A healthy way to address these powerful and uncomfortable sensations of anger, worry or sadness is to allow them to crest, acknowledge them in the body then notice how the sensation decreases. The same way that a wave crashes and then returns to stillness.
Stay on top of the strong emotion by using the breath to ride the waves. The breath can be controlled by the conscious mind even if the emotion seems uncontrollable like the waves along the shore.
Behind all the strong emotion is the place where the waves always return – Santosha, contentment. The ocean is Santosha. It can hold the vast resources living there and feeding the world through the water cycle, weather and sea plants and creatures. Contentment is a resource that we don’t have to pay for or wonder if there will be enough. Contentment, like the ocean is found in abundance as we quiet the mind, allow the emotions to wash through and return to stillness.
