14 Lessons From 14 Days of Yoga

Quite frankly, I am not the type of person who can do many things 14 days in a row - even something as simple and essential to human health as eating three meals a day. In fact, I’ve probably gone 14 days in a row drinking only enough water to swallow my medications. The last few months, though, a small change has been brewing inside, and I’ve allowed it to flow over and out into my world.

While many would argue that the physical relief, mental clarity, and overall improved spirits would come with any form of exercise (which may not be entirely incorrect), I chose yoga specifically for its “trauma informed” approaches that pulled me in. A skeptic of the spiritual connection, I decided to give it a go and was immediately rewarded by a peaceful practice that has shown me a release that I haven’t felt since I quit gymnastics at the ripe age of 14.

While I began my practice with restorative/somatic and other styles typically associated with healing from trauma through practice, I have since branched out to many other types of yoga. Not only have I found an essential step-stone to my healing journey, I’ve found a true passion once more that ignites my soul and moves my body, complete with a community of kind people with kindness on the mind, body, and soul.

1. Your primary goal in yoga is to feel good. You don’t need to be pushing for the deepest stretch, the longest hold, or the breaking point.

This is something that I am still unlearning and actively have to remind myself as I practice. As a former gymnast, pushing past and even into pain was an encouraged event; having your teammates or coaches sit on your body in a stretch to get the maximum breaking point of your body was a daily occurrence. I remember sitting in a straddle with my coach on my back while I did my homework, and I loved it! I loved feeling the pull of my muscles, the burning in my core, the shake in my bones - it was proof that I was doing something right.

in yoga, though, your cues are much different.

Instead of pushing to the point of shaking and holding your breath from pain, notice the point of pain and breathe through it. Time your stretches with your inhales and exhales (a concept foreign to gymnast me, who held my breath to fight through the pain). While strength and flexibility training, as well as mild endurance, definitely have a place in yoga (especially advanced asanas and power vinyasa flows), it is important to remember that this should be a gift to your body and mind, a way to remember that you can control and feel your sensations and choose what to do with them.

2. Don’t get overwhelmed by the amount of yoga styles - they overlap in more ways than it seems, and there are no real rules!

When I first downloaded a few yoga apps and began searching online, I quickly discovered the sheer amount of yoga styles with names that gave no hint of their purpose to an outsider - Vinyasa? Yin? Kundalini? I panicked a bit, worrying I was entering unfamiliar territory that I could not learn to navigate.

I began with restorative and somatic yoga, paying special attention to hip and chest openers (hello, body keeps the score!) I found a deep appreciation for holding poses for 1 minute+, allowing my brain to drift to a lull and feeling the subtle stretch beneath my skin. It was here that I realized just how much my gymnastics history was infiltrating (I’m also hypermobile with EDS, which further encourages the ‘stretch to failure’ mindset); I have been bringing awareness to these habits, working to find the balance of push and pleasure depending on the type of yoga I am practicing.

A few days in, I realized I genuinely like yoga, not just for the somatic and restorative properties that had already begin to show their benefits in my life, but for the renewed pleasure that came with moving my body and stimulating my mind for up to an hour and a half at a time, with no phones or media or conversation, just myself. in the years following my departure from gymnastics, I haven’t moved my body nearly enough, but held the belief that I was just as mobile and strong - contradicted daily by the crack of my hips, ache in my back, and knots in my neck. This has allowed me to reassess the state of my body and decide how to proceed.

As I have explored, I have taken especially to vinyasa, a style of yoga characterized by flows of movement synced with breath; I’ve taken a few ‘slow flow’ classes, which further slow down the vinyasa and combine aspects of holding the position. In this journey, I’ve seen that yoga styles and principles from each of them overlap, and there are no real ‘rules’ - if you want to do a flow that starts restorative, ramps up to a slow flow, and ends with somatic healing — do it!

While I still sometimes get worried that I am neglecting one aspect or another (breathwork? strength? balance?), I try to remember that I am doing this for me. I do not have to set such strict rules for myself, especially for things that are meant to be fun and healing and freeing.

3. At first, Savasana will feel like an eternity. After a few more practices, you will be wishing for an eternity in Savasana.

Savasana, or corpse pose, is the resting meditative pose taken at the end of most yoga practices. There are many modifications and versions of this, but from my understanding, the most traditional would be 3-10 minutes of quiet meditation in a ‘yoga sleep’ state, which allows the benefits of the previous movement to take full effect on the body, while promoting deep relaxation within the self. Some modern yoga teachers use this time as emotional purging by playing intense lyrical ballads (can be healing, but not the intention). Others skip over it entirely, which I was tempted to do at the beginning of my practice.

It is definitely hard to sit still, especially when your brain is fighting to break out of the slowness of the practice. I struggled with savasana most when I was still struggling to enter the yoga state, treating it like just another workout interrupted by scrolling breaks, song skips, or my own mind.

Within a week or so, though, I began to look forward to savasana, knowing that my body and mind could look forward to at least 3 minutes of peace. I still have a long journey to go to find that complete meditative space, but I have tuned in to the subtle vibrations of energy that float through my body, a reward for my self-acknowledgment. When Savasana comes to an end in class, I find myself yearning for more. When I practice on my own, I set savasana time to at least 10 minutes.

4. Practicing yoga outside is the true test of your focus level. It’s also not always all it’s cracked up to be out there, despite its beauty.

Practicing in nature is, in theory, a dream scenario. Lucky for me, I have a beautiful, expansive backyard with luscious green grass, a mini forest vibe, and …. directly facing a very busy street. Not even thirty seconds after first setting up my mat, I spotted a few problems:

1. Ants seem to be attracted to yoga mats. I was able to slightly combat this by rubbing lavender oil on my wrists and ankles prior, as well as creating a wall of bug spray around my mat, but you can imagine that the latter kinda kills the vibe.

2. It is incredibly hard to tune out the possible perceptions of people driving by, neighbors observing, or the possibility of spiders in your hair during happy baby. While I deal with fear of perception overall, it is a true test of meditative discipline to continue through your flow despite any hooting or hollering, crawling on your skin, or peeking through the blinds.

I yearn to find the ‘ideal’ outside practice spot, like by a creek or on the beach, but assume these all come with their own host of nature problems to be dealt with. this, I should hope, will come with time and an increased alignment with nature & acceptance of myself regardless of whose lens is looking.

5. The gentrification of yoga is here, and it’s alive & well.

In my exploration of the community of yogis & spiritualism, a common theme has emerged: there is traditional yoga, which is at least somewhat rooted in ancient yogic beliefs and holistic healing; there is also hot power yoga, an emerging style that has found popularity with people engaging in pilates, HIIT, or other traditional strength trainings that we’ve seen boom lately. While there is nothing inherently wrong with these practices, as no one can argue the strength and endurance benefits to yoga, especially when combined with other factors like heat and HIIT, this is not really “yoga”. Yoga, however this may look for you, should incorporate the mind/soul meditative state to some degree.

This is not to discredit those individuals or studios who are especially involved in the strength and endurance-based asana practices; yucking someone’s yum goes against the whole inclusivity principle of yoga. However, to truly benefit from the holistic power of yoga, be sure not to neglect the roots and lean too far into the ideal of pushing yourself to exertion and failure for the sake of a summer bod or anything else. If you want to do strength training, do it! if you want to connect with your body, make sure that’s not all you do.

I can definitely see the appeal in mixed practices such as yoga-pilates or yoga-HIIT, but I have promised myself that when engaging in these activities, I will always come back to my roots with a proper yogic session, including breath work and meditation. General workouts are for the body; yoga is for mind/body/spirit. Both have their place.

6. You will probably find a signature flow, or a few signature poses, that you always want to do in your practice.

Within the first few days of my practice, I had identified a few poses that gave me the most immense release that I always wanted to incorporate — butterfly, pigeon pose, thread the needle, to name a few. I began incorporating these ‘must-have’ asanas into an improv flow at the beginning or end of my practice, truly allowing my body to guide me through what I know feels good. This is a great time to explore, to play with your breath and how it affects the pose, to move parts of your body in various directions to alter the stretch.

In most studios, and definitely in the one that I was lucky enough to join, it is completely okay to modify a pose or flow to accommodate the needs of your body that only you can know.

7. You will begin itching to do your asanas everywhere, all day.

As soon as I feel the first knot in my neck at work in the mornings, I find myself aching to get down on the floor into a wide-legged child’s pose. While I am fortunate enough to have amazing coworkers in a super inclusive work environment, this still isn’t always doable; but the fact that my body is now trained to identify a stressful visceral sensation and provide the solution for relief is astounding.

After work, I basically run to my mat to let out the day’s tensions with a round of cat and cow. Your body truly does become intuitive to your stressors; it is the same as your body encouraging you to get a glass of water when it feels thirsty. stressed out? Happy baby!

8. There is a whole world of overlapping spiritual beliefs in the yoga community. You can choose to identify with any of them, while keeping a respectful distance from others. You are not required to go all-in.

This was a hard topic for me to think about and articulate. When I dabbled in spirituality the first time (tarot, oracle, and crystals), I was a senior in high school in a very bad mental place who was using it as an escape, as ‘proof’, as a desperate attempt to prove that things would turn out okay and how I wanted. This soured the whole of spirituality for me for a while, as someone who struggles immensely with black and white thinking in all aspects of their life.

As I began to get into yoga, it was clear that there are heavy spiritual ties, for good reason. I remember saying to my therapist, after she expressed her joy at my newfound hobby, “I don’t want to become one of those people who falls off the deep end and can’t see reality.” for some reason, I was holding on to this belief that people who lean in to their holistic and spiritual side are ignoring the truth of life, rather than connecting with it. I have always been a very scientific person, a previous psychology major, and an avid believer in evolution and provable scientific theories; to me, these things could not co-exist.

Finally, I realized that ignoring the obvious interaction between science, spirituality, religion, and countless other things we humans have assigned names to would be ridiculous. It has long been established that humans do carry energy that can be moved and released from the body; it is also long been accepted that energy is created to power the world; energy exists in science, and it exists in spirituality. Why should I not exist in both?

My point is, you don’t have to get so caught up in this. Stay true to your core beliefs, maybe even making a list to come back to, to ensure that you are not wandering off. Otherwise, take what resonates, take what feels good, take what makes sense. Even if our understanding of energy healing, for example, isn’t exactly what’s actually happening, you can still find immense healing in what the ideas mean to you.

9. There is truly no yoga ‘look’ - no body, no age, no outfit, no place. yoga is classified by the energy and intention of those practicing.

My first ever studio yoga class was a donation-only ‘recovery yoga’ class, advertised as trauma-informed, which immediately reeled me in. At 5’1, twenty-one years old with an eternal baby face, I knew I’d likely be the youngest one there and possibly get some funny looks. This was definitely exacerbated when I arrived in a hot pink workout tank and skin-tight yoga pants to a class of 25 to 70 year olds dressed in anything from work attire to pajamas; then I realized - I don’t care what they’re wearing just as much as they don’t care what I’m wearing, because we’re here to heal.

This yoga class, while it was definitely intended more for those who aren’t interested in yoga as a practice but as an occasional therapy (which is completely valid and I support anyone who takes this route!), opened my eyes. Do not let TikTok or mainstream gyms or anyone else tell you that there is a yoga standard for how you arrive - show up as yourself. Whether it’s with smudgy makeup and the clothes you wore to work that day or a bathing suit with a flowing sundress, wear what empowers you to connect to yourself.

10. Sharing the practice is a gift.

Since I have began practicing, I have been talking about the love of it to anyone who will listen. What I’ve found is, more people are interested in yoga than it seems! For most of these people, their resistance to diving further in comes from prior beliefs about yoga. Ditch the beliefs - the only one you need is that you are ready to give this gift to yourself.

While I am not anywhere close to yoga teacher training or certification, I have loved sharing some asanas or breath patterns with my mom, my partner, my coworkers, and my social media. Giving others the knowledge and encouragement to begin exploring themselves is part of the practice.

11. Your practice is going to evolve over time.

While I may be preemptively stating this, I think it goes without saying that yoga practice preferences and styles will ebb and flow with time. This month, as I have explored, I have done so many different flows and followed many different types of yogis. It is probable that I will have another restorative and somatic yoga phase, where I am most drawn to heal the hurt parts of my inner world; following that, I may have a power yoga phase where I focus on vinyasa to stimulate my control, my power, my strength in myself. Some months may be a see-saw of both, sandwiching a torturous hot power yoga with the gift of kundalini release.

12. Yoga is not enough to take care of yourself, on its own.

Yoga has given me an essential toolset that I was missing for years. It has given me the strength and enthusiasm to explore what other parts of me are neglected, what other steps I should be taking to heal them. If yoga is used in solidarity, without any true acknowledgement and application of the new relationship with self, this can quickly turn to an unhealthy escape rather than an integral building block.

Take breaks, listen to your body, talk to your circle, eat good food, and watch funny shows. Do whatever else you need to ensure yoga is benefiting you to the highest degree of its power.

13. There will be people who don’t understand.

There will always be people who tell you you’re not really working out (good thing that’s not the point!), that will ask if you’re one of the ‘spiritual nuts’ (which has no set parameters, by the way!) there also may be those who tell you that you are not a real yogi if you only practice this way, or if you don’t practice another spiritually-adjacent belief. This doesn’t matter because they also cannot understand the immense way in which you are healing and staying true to yourself.

14. You are going to undergo continuous, beautiful phases of growth and healing, for as long as you may practice.

Yoga, spiritual practice, and the act of healing itself is the continuous shedding of skin, the step from one self to another. That is the beauty of the thing - you are not the same self who began, and you are not the self you will meet at the end. Don’t forget to thank yourselves along the way.