Everyone wants to be happy, peaceful, and feel fulfilled. The path may not always be steering directly towards happiness, peacefulness, and fulfillment, but it is the underlying driving force of every step we take. That being said, your personal happiness is created by YOU.

  Training the mind to be happy is as much of a choice as a automatic response. The external world is only a amplifier of the inner world. You cannot control the outer world, but you can learn to mold your thoughts and thereby change the vibration of your inner world. Create peace, create happiness. Pattabhi Jois says, “Keeping the mind focused in a single direction, always being happy, and never feeling regret for any reason, this is the contentment known as santosha.”

 Sutra 2.42: santosha anuttamah sukha labhah

From contentment there flows the most excellent happiness and delight. Translation and interpretation by Swami Venkatesananda

  In turn, choosing to be happy we must also make sure we are being truthful to ourselves and to others. This “truth” goes beyond the telling of a lie. It extends to the illusion of how we feel at that very moment instead of seeing things how they really are. If you are being truthful there can be no question of saying anything not meant to be. Complete honesty with ourselves requires us to slow down the mind a bit.  When we react instantly to situations on a purely primitive and emotional level, we often do not see the truth and are acting from a place of fear and conditioning. There have been so many times in my life where I reacted too quickly, and had to sit with resentment, wishing I had thought it through. Once we know that we are not our thoughts, a gap is created between who we think we are  and who we really are. This is our truth, our Satya.

  Sutra 2.36: satya pratisthayam kriya phala ashrayatvam

When there is firm grounding in the perception of what is, or of truth, it is seen that an action and reaction, seed and its fruits, or cause and result, are related to each other; and the clear vision of intelligence becomes directly aware of its relationship; (or, one’s words are fruitful). Translation and interpretation by Swami Venkatesananda

 We are all continuing to learn more about ourselves, and this takes time. Be patient with yourself and know that even the most intelligent Guru is still studying and learning just as we are. The joy we seek is within us, as none other than our True Identity. It is waiting for you to take a look deep within and give it life.

I look forward to seeing you on the mat at Inspired Change Yoga!

Victoria Rivera