Finding Happiness Within by Savitri

We spend so much of our lives looking outside ourselves for happiness. We think we’ll feel better when something changes, when someone understands us, when a problem is resolved, or when life finally goes the way we want it to. But circumstances are always changing, so if our happiness depends on them, it will change too.
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Our yoga practice gives us another way. We can begin by simply noticing the mind. When we catch ourselves thinking, “I’ll be happy when…,” we can pause, take a breath, feel our body, and come back to what is actually happening right now.


We don’t have to stop our thoughts or make everything okay. We can just notice them without immediately following them. In those little spaces, we may discover a quietness that was there all along. 


In addition to my regular meditation practice, I find that working in as little as 7 seconds—a good, deep breath’s worth of pure presence—as many times a day as I can remember to, usually when I notice myself feeling triggered or dissatisfied, is incredibly powerful. These little pauses are golden. They’re cumulative, and over time they begin to change our relationship with our thoughts, our reactions, and even with life itself.


We don’t stop caring about our lives or trying to change what needs changing. But we begin to see that our peace and happiness doesn’t have to wait for everything outside of us to be perfect.

I’m still learning this myself. I forget, I get caught up in my thoughts, and I look outside myself for happiness too. But each time I remember to pause and come back to the breath, the body,  this moment, to touch in as the pure Presence that is looking out through my eyes - I get a little glimpse of something very simple- happiness isn’t something we have to find - happiness is something we uncover when we stop looking everywhere else.