6 Life Lessons from Yoga Class

Yoga is about so much more than stretching. The life lessons I’ve learned on my yoga mat have informed my life in such profound ways it’s hard to describe. 

In this post, I’m going to try to describe them anyway!

Here are just six of the hundreds of ways my time on my yoga mat informs my life in other ways (in no particular order):

1. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. 

Can I practice my nemesis pose, Revolved Triangle, without a block? 

Sure. But when I do that, my spine rounds, my chest caves, my back heel lifts, my brow furrows, and I get pissed off because I hate that *($#) pose so much. 

So many things in life are like this. 

Can I run myself ragged every weekday carting my kids to different activities? Yes. But is that how to achieve our goals of ease and harmony during an already busy work week? No way.

Can I get by wearing the same worn-out women’s running shoes I’ve used for the last three years? Yes, again. But will it be healthy for my body? Nope.

Can I eat candy for dinner every night if I want to? I can. I’m an adult, damn it! But is that a smart choice? 🤔

See where I’m going with this?

Sometimes challenging yourself is exactly what you need. Sometimes you need to practice only the poses that feel good. Other times, you need permission to do less. Or you need to try something different to find a greater balance.

And my yoga practice has helped me immensely to make those types of decisions skillfully.

2. Let go of what doesn’t serve you.

This little aphorism is repeated so much in yoga classes, it’s nearly lost all meaning. Let go of tension. Let go of judgments. Let go of expectations. Let go of toxic people. 

Let it go, let it go, let it go. It was a cliche, even before Elsa. 

And while this instruction is a really great reminder to drop those shoulders away from your ears, consider this: 

You can’t command yourself to stop tensing and expect it to work. It doesn’t work that way. We spent hours (and in some cases YEARS) creating that tension we chronically hold in our shoulders. For most of us, it takes an hour-long yoga class to even begin to unravel that shit. It takes awareness first. Then, skillful movement and breathwork. And finally a bit of acceptance, which finally helps you to stop struggling and soften. The tension dissipates just a teeny tiny bit. 

And guess what? When you come back to your practice tomorrow, you get to do the same thing all over again.

And this is how it works with life, too. Want to “let go” of the clutter in your house that does not serve you? You could throw everything out and vow to never let it back in again. 

But you’re still you. 

And you’ll create that same cluttery mess again if you don’t work on the awareness, skillfully interrupting your patterns, and accepting that this mess is a beautiful part of you, too. 

(Seriously, though, throw out that bra with the underwire that pokes you and get yourself a new, comfy sports bra instead.)

3. Don’t compare yourself to others.

I was triggered recently by a podcast interview. It was with a mom who had managed to build a thriving business as a yoga teacher while she had babies under 3 at home with her. I had this visceral, gut reaction: When my kids were that little, I could barely take care of myself and my little ones! I must have been doing something wrong.

Then I realized that there are so many variables I don’t know about this mom. It’s like looking at Karen in the front row of yoga class with her perfect Handstand. And feeling bad about yours.

Maybe the lady in the front row started taking gymnastics at 2 years old.

Or maybe she’s been taking private lessons for 15 years with a yoga master.

Maybe she was born being able to do that Handstand, but her hamstrings are tight and weak.

We don’t know her story. We don’t know what advantages she’s had to help her get to where she is. So it’s not fair to compare our poses to hers.

And we don’t know what advantages that mom with the booming business has had either. At a minimum, I’m assuming she had some extra hands to help with childcare so she could work on her business. 

I would never minimize her hard work and accomplishments. But I can celebrate her without putting myself down.

4. Your body is a trusted advisor.

When there are countless choices (35,000 decisions a day for average adult… much higher for parents) and opinions everywhere, and it’s too easy to doubt yourself. 

My time on my yoga mat has taught me that when I get confused by conflicting advice, when I’m not sure which way to turn, my body can be like a trusted advisor on decisions small and large.

Try it:

When you consider doing something, does your breath deepen or naturally constrict? Do your muscles feel soft and relaxed, or do you feel tension? (Check with your usual tense areas). Without any external input (advice from friends, blog posts or videos on topic, etc.) what was your first, gut instinct? After you’ve gathered a bit more information, is your gut feeling the same? 

We all have blind spots. And having more information is almost always a good thing. But too often we let ourselves be swayed away from what we know feels right because we can’t explain WHY it feels right.

When there is no clear “right” or “wrong,” trust your body to lead you in the right direction because there is wisdom there that is profound, even if it can’t be explained.

5. It’s normal to fall.

If you don’t try, you’ll never succeed. But the more you try something, no matter what it is, the more you fail. And that doesn’t make you a failure. It shows you’re trying.

This is a lesson I’ve had to learn again and again.

Some days balance feels easy. Some days you fall out of every pose. And what do all beginning yoga students do when we fall? We look around to see if anyone else noticed. But falling out of poses is so normal in yoga class, nobody even looks up. Besides, they’re all trying not to fall themselves.

Falling is a part of the process. It’s how you improve your balance. And it’s an expected part of every balancing pose.

The same is true in life. Try something new. Screw it up. Laugh at yourself. (Because, really, it’s not such a big deal, is it?) 

Learn something. Try again. Repeat until you die. 

6. Rest is productive.

I often joke that, as a yoga teacher, I talk about love and light, non-violence and acceptance … 

But I will tackle you if you try to leave my class before Savasana.

Savasana (Final Resting Pose) is magic. And the emphasis on rest is something I hold most dear about yoga.

Why? Because everywhere else in my life the emphasis is on doing more, going further, trying harder, and pushing through. And I’ve found that you can only push yourself so far before you hit a wall and collapse.

We all want to be productive. But have you ever noticed that in those moments when you’re pushing yourself, you might be able to keep up the facade of “working,” but you aren’t getting much done? Or the things you’re getting done just aren’t your best work. 

It can’t be just me. As humans, we need to work hard and be productive. And we also need time to rest and recharge. Our bodies need rest to rebuild. And our minds need rest and time to meander aimlessly through daydreams and whatever thoughts pop into our heads.  

This is an important, productive time. And my yoga practice reminds me of this every time I hear those magical words “take rest” at the end of a yoga session.

What life lessons have you learned from your yoga class? Comment below and share!