Yoga Saved Me: How I Benefited From a Daily Yoga Practice

Near the end of my first semester of grad school when my stress was at an all time high, I decided to practice yoga everyday for a month. 

One month turned into four months, and pretty soon I was wrapping up a year of graduate studies with a much clearer idea of who I was, the kind of work I do best, and new habits that completely changed the way I approach my work. Yoga gave me a foundation. I didn’t know how ungrounded I was before I took the time to pay attention to my body and my breathing in an intentional way. I learned that my stress didn’t have to be a constant - there was actually a way to manage it. My mood could change simple by moving my body through a vinasse. I had the power to be present and have agency in my daily life instead of letting life happen to me.

When I went back for my second semester of grad school, I noticed big changes. I was much more productive. I was mindful of the fact that there were a limited number of hours in a day, and I was in control of how I spent those hours. I spent mornings not only completing my assignments and doing the reading - I actually got ahead in every class. 

I got strategic about how to spend my time. I listened to audiobooks of the novels I was assigned for class while I walk around campus or cleaned my apartment. I made a schedule for obligations outside of class and stuck to it. Wednesday afternoons were for grocery shopping and laundry. Friday afternoons were for completing work for my campus’s literary journal. Weekends were blocked off for personal time, visiting my long-distance boyfriend, or going home to see my family. 

Was yoga the only thing that contributed to those changes? No. My long distance relationship was also teaching me to be present when I was with my boyfriend and my first semester of grad school had kicked my butt and made it obvious that I needed to step up in a new way, but I’d experienced those things before. The only thing that had changed was my yoga practice, and it more than anything was teaching me the practical skill of being aware of my body and present in every task I did. 

Yoga was the secret sauce I needed to bring everything together in my life during that season. It taught me the exact lesson I needed to learn then. 

Showing up for my yoga practice everyday meant rolling out my mat in my living room or bedroom every single day, pulling up the yoga youtube channel I was following, and knowing that when I left the mat I’d feel better from the inside out. Physically moving my body through the poses helped get my focus out of my head and into the physical world. The spiritual work for yoga - setting intentions, repeating a mantra, breathing space into my heart and mind for something new - encouraged me to turn my gaze inward again, not to the chaos in my brain, but to the essence of who I was and what made me a person. The grounding I felt was ultimately what kept me coming back to my mat during one of the most stressful years of my life and every year after that.

I can’t say that I do yoga every day three years later, but it serves me when I need it. I go through phases of doing it several times a week and then switch to a different workout routine for a few months before coming back. That’s okay because what I’ve learned from yoga stays with me even when I’m not going through the poses. 

Now, I am going through another stressful season in life - a career change - and I plan on easing back into a regular yoga routine to help me keep my head on straight. As I approach the end of the year, I think the best way to set myself up for success is to get as grounded as possible. That means a lot of yoga, a lot of awareness, and I’m sure a lot of growth to come.