yoga

Santosha: A Path to Contentment in Challenging Times

Posted on by Patricia Reich

Thank you!

Santosha is Sanskrit for thank you. Since those of us in the United States are celebrating Thanksgiving this week, I just wanted to take a moment to say, “Thank you!” To all of you, my students, my followers, my clients, both present as well as past. Because of you I am able to share my love of health and fitness with all of you!!

I looked a little deeper into the meaning of the Sanskrit word “Santosha”. It means contentment and non striving. Being satisfied with what one has. Wow! This hit me very personally. Since 2020, I feel like life has just been an uphill battle.

In 2020, we were locked down. All of my classes and services had to stop because of this. Which meant that my income went to ZERO! Even though the government was offering pandemic unemployment for self employed people, I was denied unemployment. I then began delivering for DoorDash just to make some money. Well, the wear and tear on my car, killed it so I needed to purchase another car! The money I had made didn’t even cover the cost of the car, now I was at even more of a loss. But, I live in the Myrtle Beach, SC area were public transportation is non existent. This made me work even harder. I was definitely not non striving. That’s a double negative, so I was striving soooo much. And I have continued to strive just to survive.

You see, after lock down when we opened up, not many people were coming out to take classes. Many were taking classes online and continued to even after lockdown. As I learned more about Santosha, I realized how much I needed this lesson. Sigh of relief! Yes, 2020 has been difficult for many of us and things have never returned nor will they ever return to “normal” again. However, I can choose to find contentment (Santosha) in what I do have. All of you wonderful students, clients and followers. Attendance has been increasing and I’ve been able to add classes. Wow! What a blessing!

You see, when teachers teach, we think teachers are teaching their students, but usually we, the teachers are the ones that need the lesson. And many times we learn more from our students than they realize. So once again….SANTOSHA!

If you were touched by this post or would like to share an example of Santosha in your life, please feel free to leave that in the comments. Also, feel free to share this post with others!

Namaste!

Hatha Yoga

Posted on by Patricia Reich

What is hatha yoga? Hatha yoga’s focus is to get to a place of cognizant relaxation. During hatha class, there will be asanas (physical exercises), pranayama (breathwork), and meditation. Hatha yoga is great for people of all ages and all levels. The only requirement is to be able to get up and down off the floor. If someone is not able to get up and down off the floor, I suggest Chair yoga (which I teach as well).

Yoga comes from India where Sanskrit is the language spoken. Many of the yoga poses have Sanskrit names. I usually use both English and Sanskrit. This will expose you to Sanskrit terms so that if you find yourself in a yoga class that only uses Sanskrit, you will be familiar with the terms.

During a hatha yoga, we hold the poses for a few breaths. This increases muscular strength as well as flexibility. We also work on our balance during class. Inversions are not a part of my classes due to my audience. We occasionally do legs up the wall, but that is the extent of inversions.

There is an extended savasana. Savasana means relaxation. I usually will lead a guided relaxation, walking my students through a progressive relaxation of their muscles. We then transition to a recovery position. Lying on one’s side and breathing at a comfortable pace. This is the time where one can integrate the lessons they learned on their mat in class that day with their life and how these lessons may help them out in the world.

Next, we come to a comfortable seated position. The important thing here is to have a straight spine. We chant for a minute. Then we practice breathwork for a minute. Next, we do a visualization meditation for a minute.
Finally, we close the class with the sound of “Om”.