Yoga Is More Than Just Poses: From the Studio to the Soul: My Journey with Yoga

I still remember my very first yoga class in New York City. Like so many others, I showed up because I wanted to move my body. As a professional dancer, staying fit was non-negotiable. My body was my instrument, and I had to keep it tuned—lean, strong, flexible. That’s what got me through the door.

But something surprising happened. Within a month, I realized I wasn’t coming back just for the workout.

I kept showing up because I wanted to feel the peace. That deep, steady calm that settled over me every time I rolled up my mat. I started noticing the quiet in my head, the softening of the inner critic, the gentle opening of my heart.

As I often say now, yoga became my church. And I never looked back.

Beyond the Asanas: What Yoga Really Is

There’s this common misconception that yoga is all about fancy poses—handstands, deep backbends, pretzel-like shapes. And sure, those can be fun (and challenging!). But that’s just scratching the surface.

Yoga, at its heart, is a practice of connection. Connection to breath. To presence. To the self. To the Divine. And to others.

The poses (or asanas) are just one limb of an eight-limbed path. They help prepare the body to sit, breathe, meditate, and ultimately live with more awareness. But they’re not the end goal. They’re the gateway.

Let’s break this down a little, and I’ll share more about how this practice has shaped not just my body—but my emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being.

The Emotional Healing of Yoga: Feeling What We’ve Been Running From

One of the first things I noticed after consistently practicing yoga was how emotional I would get—sometimes in savasana (final relaxation), sometimes in a hip opener, or even during breathwork.

At first, I didn’t know what was happening. Why was I suddenly crying on my mat?

But over time, I learned: we store emotions in the body. All those moments of stress, sadness, grief, fear, anger—we push them down, pack them away, and keep moving.

Yoga doesn’t let us hide. The slow movements, the breath, the stillness—they all create space for those buried feelings to surface.

And while that can be uncomfortable, it’s also deeply healing.

Learning to Sit With Myself

Yoga taught me how to be with my feelings instead of running from them. I stopped trying to “fix” myself or my emotions. I learned to breathe through them, to witness them, and to let them move.

There’s this quiet magic in realizing that emotions aren’t permanent. They rise, they fall. They’re just energy moving through. And yoga helps that energy move more freely.

Yoga and the Body: A New Relationship with Movement

From Performance to Presence

As a dancer, movement was always performance. It was about doing it right, looking a certain way, executing with precision. My body was judged constantly—by others and by me.

But yoga asked something different of me.

It asked me to feel instead of perform.

To move for the sake of presence, not perfection.

To listen instead of push.

That shift was everything.

Releasing Physical Stress and Tension

We all carry stress in the body—tight shoulders, clenched jaws, aching backs. For me, it was tight hips and hamstrings from years of dancing and overtraining.

Yoga helped unwind all that tension, not just physically but energetically. As I softened into each stretch, it felt like I was releasing layers of built-up pressure I didn’t even know I was holding.

And with consistent practice, I noticed other changes—lower blood pressure, fewer headaches, deeper sleep, a more resilient nervous system. It wasn’t just a good stretch; it was medicine.

Why Yoga Isn’t Just a Fitness Routine (And Never Was)

Let’s just say it: yoga has a bit of a PR problem.

Somewhere along the way, especially in Western culture, yoga got packaged as a trendy workout—a way to get long, lean muscles, tone your abs, and maybe show off a headstand on Instagram. And hey, there’s nothing wrong with building strength or feeling good in your body (those are beautiful things!). But that’s just a tiny piece of what yoga really is.

Yoga isn’t a fitness routine—it never was.

It’s a whole system of living that’s been evolving for thousands of years. The physical postures (asana) are only one part of it. There’s also breathwork (pranayama), concentration (dharana), meditation (dhyana), and a whole ethical framework that supports compassion, awareness, and inner freedom. That peace I found on my mat a month into practicing? That was yoga at work—not just in my hamstrings, but in my nervous system and spirit.

Yoga is what taught me to be with myself instead of running from my thoughts. It gave me space to feel my emotions instead of suppressing them. It reminded me that my worth isn’t tied to how flexible I am or how much I can achieve—it’s already within me. That’s not fitness. That’s healing.

So yes, I started yoga for the physical benefits. But what’s kept me here for all these years is something much deeper. Yoga became my sanctuary, my home base, my way of connecting to myself and something greater. When I say yoga is my church, I mean it.

The Spiritual Heart of Yoga

Turning Inward

As my practice deepened, I began to understand why it felt like church.

Yoga gave me a doorway inward—into myself, into the quiet, into the stillness where my spirit lives.

And in that space, I began to feel something bigger. Something divine. Something deeply loving and ever-present.

It didn’t matter what name I gave it—God, Source, the Universe, Spirit. What mattered was the connection. And yoga brought me there, over and over again.

A Practice of Remembrance

To me, yoga is a practice of remembering. Remembering who I really am beneath the noise. Remembering what matters. Remembering that I am connected—to all things, to all beings, to love itself.

It’s not about escaping life. It’s about becoming more fully present to it.

And that presence? It changes everything.

Living Yoga Off the Mat

Breath in Traffic. Compassion in Conflict.

Yoga isn’t just something I do for an hour on the mat. It shows up in how I live.

It’s in the breath I take when I’m stuck in traffic instead of yelling at the car in front of me. It’s in the pause before reacting when someone pushes my buttons. It’s in the way I treat my body on days when it’s tired and needs rest instead of discipline.

It’s in my relationships, my work, my words, my choices.

Yoga teaches us to live with more awareness, compassion, and integrity. And that’s the real practice.

A Daily Commitment

People often ask, “Do you still practice every day?”

And my answer is: yes, but not always in the way you might think.

Some days it’s a full 60-minute class. Some days it’s 10 minutes of breathwork. Some days it’s just being fully present while I walk my dog or cook dinner or drink tea.

Yoga isn’t about checking a box. It’s about showing up—again and again—with honesty, curiosity, and love.

Why Yoga Is More Important Than Ever:

In a World That’s Always Moving, Yoga Slows Us Down

We live in a world that values speed, productivity, and hustle. But our souls crave stillness, slowness, and space.

Yoga gives us permission to pause.

It gives us tools to regulate our nervous systems, to come home to our bodies, to listen deeply.

It helps us move from “doing” all the time to being—which is where true healing happens.

It’s for Everyone—Not Just the Flexible Few

You don’t need to be young, thin, or bendy to do yoga.

You don’t need the perfect mat or leggings or playlist.

All you need is breath. A willingness to show up. And a little curiosity.

Because yoga meets you where you are—and invites you into something deeper.

Something real.

Something sacred.

Yoga Changed My Life (And Still Does)

What started as a way to stay fit turned into a lifelong spiritual path. One that continues to evolve, teach, and surprise me.

Yoga has held me through heartbreak, change, transition, and joy. It’s given me a place to land, again and again, when life feels overwhelming.

It’s helped me heal—not just physically, but emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.

And perhaps most importantly, it’s helped me remember who I am. Beyond the roles, the achievements, the noise.

If you’ve only ever done yoga for the physical benefits, I invite you to stay a little longer. Breathe a little deeper. Listen a little closer.

There’s so much more waiting for you.