Finding Happiness in Eight Branches

Recently a friend of mine who is going through a tough time said to me, "I just want to be happy."

I'm no therapist, but as I was listening to him talk about various troubles, I thought that he could have stopped right there. This was the most true and honest thing he said all night. But he made this tremendous statement and then kept on going. To me, this statement was huge, but he drowned it out with a bunch of other racket. He probably doesn't even remember saying that.

And anyway, what would he do about it if he did stop to think about what he was saying? Would he then make all the changes he needs to, to find happiness? Isn't it easier to just let it ride?

Janet Abel, my yoga instructor, recently published an article in Tidewater Women magazine (page 10). It begins, "Everyone wants to be happy… we can take steps to make it more likely to manifest in our lives." She goes on to lay out the Yoga Sutra and the Eightfold Path.

1) 5 Yamas - non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, moderation, non-accumulation of stuff
2) 5 Niyamas - purity, contentment, self discipline, study, devotion to a higher truth
3) Asana - yoga postures
4) Pranayama - breathing
5) Pratyahara - turning attention inward
6) Dharana - focused attention (like on breathing)
7) Dhyana - meditation - putting negative thoughts aside
8) Samadhi - connection to the Divine

I swear that I didn't read this article until today, when my friend Lauren pointed it out to me that it sounded a lot like my bento box thing. Or maybe it's that what I wrote sounds a lot like this philosophy, even down to the eight things. Janet's article is really great, and worth a read.

It has not escaped my attention that my 3 big bento box things - writing, love, and work - are the same 3 things that are in the subtitle of my blog. It's the trying to get it all done part that's a killer. I believe I can decipher a way to do everything I want to do. I don't know how, exactly, but I'm working on it… Working on a way to make it more likely that I manifest in my life the things I want to be there.