Yoga
A path inward.
Yoga has been with me my whole life, first through my grandmother, Amma, who woke every day at 4am to pray. Her life of yoga was so beautiful to witness, and now it lives on in my own practice.
Over time I’ve learned that yoga is far more than the poses. It’s a doorway to your inner world, and asana is the mirror of that world — whatever is moving within shows up on the mat.
After two C-sections, I had to rebuild my body from the inside out, starting from scratch. It changed my whole relationship with my practice. Now every time I step onto my mat, I’m humbled, and grateful for what this body has carried.
That doorway has led me to Reiki, to meditation and breath, to the wisdom of the Q’ero in Peru, and back toward my own lineage in India. Different traditions, one truth: everything is energy, and everything is connected.
This journey has been about going inward, and coming home to myself.
The root
What is yoga?
The word yoga comes from the Sanskrit root yuj — to yoke, to join, to unite. At its root, yoga is union: of breath and body, of mind and spirit, of the self and something much larger.
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali put it simply: yogaś citta vṛtti nirodhaḥ — yoga is the stilling of the fluctuations of the mind.
The poses are only one part of it. Asana is one of yoga’s eight limbs — a path that begins with how we live and moves, step by step, inward.
Yama
Ethics
Niyama
Self-discipline
Asana
Posture
Prāṇāyāma
Breath
Pratyāhāra
Turning inward
Dhāraṇā
Concentration
Dhyāna
Meditation
Samādhi
Union
In the end, yoga isn’t something I do. I am yoga.
My practice
Wherever I can find it.
Practice now looks like a couple of classes a week, because I'm still trying to put into words the magic of moving with others. Other days it's sun salutations with my kids, a pose here and there, meditation, sitting in nature, a walk, or dancing in the kitchen.
As a mother, yoga has taught me to hold space for others, to breathe before I react, and to lead with my heart.
The journey
The journey continues.
In 2020, when the world slowed down, I began studying yoga more deeply.
I’m a lifelong seeker, and the journey continues. I’m currently in a year-long training studying the practices of the Q’ero shamans of Peru.
Now I’m working on how to bridge those worlds, because everything is connected.
Next, I’ll be learning more about my own lineage in India — and sharing the gifts with you along the way.
“Not all those who wander are lost.” — J.R.R. Tolkien
What I’ve learned
Be who you already are.
Over the last 20 years, across my career and my spiritual journey, I’ve come to realize that the best version of yourself is the most authentic, sovereign version of yourself.
There’s no need to be anyone other than who you already are.
Asana is the mirror of your inner world.
Watch this space.
I hope to share practice with you sometime.
Read: Why I Practice → Practice with me → Take action →