I think I mentioned we have a friend in town. Among other things, for me this means that my usual refuge of the guest room is not available. Don’t get me wrong – I adore my family – but there are just some nights, usually the ones when I want to actually sleep, that I need to get away. I’ll admit to being a little uptight and protective about my sleep – but it’s one of my non-negotiables for my health and sanity (as is yoga), and I get panicky when faced with what I perceive to be “threats” to getting my 7-8 hours a night. Here’s the way it is: we’ve already got 2 adults in our bed, my daughter has been sleeping with us for the last 6 weeks or so, and we have two small dogs that think they are people. I’ve tried to lobby for a king-sized bed, I know I need to address the situation with Morgane, and the Boston Terriers, well, I doubt I’ll get anywhere on that one. So where I am headed with this? Last night, I woke up to find Lola the dog in my arms, Morgane’s feet pressing into my back as she lay diagonally across the bed, and myself in danger of falling out of bed if I moved an inch. Ugh – how was I going to get back to sleep under these conditions? The concept of Santosha popped into my head. Santosha is one of the yogic niyamas, basically a small list of big intentions, ancient to-do’s for living soulfully. Santosha means contentment: being content with what you do, what you have, where you are. Finding peace and acceptance of the present moment. So, it was a perfect time for this to come to mind. I decided to snuggle back into the arms of my Boston Terrier, adjust Morgane’s feet a bit, kiss my soundly-sleeping husband (who isn’t ever affected by any of this) and be grateful that I had everyone there beside me. And amazingly enough, I fell back asleep shortly after. Can you find a little Santosha in an uncomfortable moment? Try it, it works.