10 Ways Yoga Changed My Life

My ballet teacher in college first introduced me to yoga. At the time, I didn’t give it much thought, it was a part of my regular ballet training. After college, I gradually started putting down the pointe shoes and picking up the yoga mat. In part, because I was getting older and my dancing days were coming to an end, and in part because slowly but surely I was becoming hooked.

Over the last 8 years of consistent yoga practice, I have morphed into “that girl”… That girl who makes plans around yoga class, that girl who goes on yoga retreats, that girl who is often found hailing the praises of yoga at social engagements, that girl who has been so changed by yoga and convinced of its benefits that I incorporate it into my work as a clinical psychologist.

Yoga has grown dramatically in its popularity and a yoga studio can now be found on almost every street corner — right next to Starbucks. This mass embracing of yoga by popular culture has produced some skeptics who diminish its value and significance as “trendy.”

But here are the 10 ways yoga changed my life:

1. Yoga taught me to be in the moment — as a former dancer, I was already accustomed to the idea of walking into the dance studio, leaving the world and its many stresses outside and being ready to “work.” Yoga reinforced this practice by encouraging me to take notice of where I am in each particular moment, being there fully and being there with gratitude.
2. Yoga taught me to be still — there is a common misperception that yoga is only about “stretching” and moving around. Almost all of my yoga classes begin and end with stillness. This stillness gives me the sacred space to reset both my mind and body. As a type A personality, the ability to embrace stillness inside and outside of the studio has fundamentally reshaped how I walk daily through life.
3. Yoga taught me to breathe — I once saw a quote that said yoga is 90% breath and 10% movement. Through stillness, I have learned to notice my breath. I have noticed the breath of anxiety, the breath of resistance, the breath of struggle. In turn, I have learned to breath deep, full breaths of life and peace.
4. Yoga taught me patience — I have practiced yoga consistently for over 8 years and every day is different. I cannot do some postures that I used to be able to do and I cannot do others that I think I “should” be able to do by now. Yoga has taught me to be patient and accept each moment as it is and not as my belief of what it should be.
5. Yoga taught me to let go — Yoga has taught me to let go of expectation, let go of judgment and valuation, let go of attachment to self-created stories of the past and anxieties about the future. Yoga taught me to just be.
6. Yoga taught me self-discovery — Yoga taught me to see myself in new ways and to be open to new possibilities. New possibilities begin in achieving new postures and expand to new experiences, new people and seeing the world in new ways.
7. Yoga taught me to be flexible — “Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be bent out of shape.” Yoga taught me to allow myself to be stretched and grown. Yoga taught me that I could bend and not break. A flexible body has led to a flexible spirit. A flexible spirit has led me to be less resistant and more tolerant of unexpected life events and challenges.
8. Yoga taught me acceptance — Yoga taught me that my soul, in my body, in my space, is enough. Yoga taught me to be compassionate to myself. Yoga taught me to notice and accept things joyfully as they are in the present moment and not as I may wish them to be.
9. Yoga taught me the importance of practice —I have always been practicing something: ballet, piano lessons, track, practice exams… Yoga taught me that the way that I engage in life is also a practice, a practice of gratitude, kindness, empathy, forgiveness and joy.
10. Yoga taught me forgiveness — yoga taught me to forgive myself for where I think I should be and accept myself for where I am. Yoga taught me to forgive myself for past mistakes and perceptions of failure. Yoga taught me to accept the myriad beauties in imperfection.