The Most Delicious Fruits of Practice - Yoga as a Way of Life

Yesterday, I wrote about some of the fruits my yoga practice has brought into my life: greater calm, more self-compassion, a deeper awareness of my body and the ability to feel less scattered.

Yet beneath these changes lies something even more significant. Yoga has given me a value system. It offers a set of principles I can return to when I am making decisions, navigating relationships or trying to understand my own thoughts and behaviour.

Discovering the deeper layers of yoga

My teacher training with David Cosserat at the Inner Healing School of Yoga was truly transformative. It opened my eyes to the depth of yoga beyond the physical postures. I began to understand yoga as a philosophy for living, concerned with the mind, our relationships, the causes of suffering and the way we meet life.

The postures still mattered, but I could now see them within a much wider landscape.

Yoga immediately began to follow me beyond the mat. It shaped how I spoke to myself, how I responded to other people, how I approached motherhood and how I wanted to teach.

I often look back on this period of my life as a golden one, despite the grief that brought me there. I had lost both of my parents within six months and felt utterly lost. Training to become a yoga teacher became a balm for that grief and gave me far more than I could ever have imagined. I had no intention of actually teaching classes. Yet by the time I qualified, I knew that I wanted to share what yoga had given me. So, somewhat tentatively at first, I began to teach.

Like a book I have loved deeply (The Island of Missing Trees - I'm looking at you!), I sometimes wish I could return to the beginning and experience it all again, discovering each teaching afresh. Thankfully, yoga is the gift that just keeps on giving - layer upon layer upon layer of learning and discovery.

The eight limbs of yoga

In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali describes eight limbs of yoga. These remind me that yoga is about how I live, where I place my attention and how consciously I respond to the world around me. They are as follows:

Yama, our relationship with others

Niyama, our relationship with ourselves

Asana, physical posture

Pranayama, working with the breath

Pratyahara, turning our attention inward

Dharana, concentration

Dhyana, meditation

Samadhi, deep connection or integration

Modern yoga often places most of its attention on asana, but the physical practice is only one small part of the path.

The yamas and niyamas

The yamas and niyamas form the ethical foundations of yoga.

The yamas guide our relationship with others and include non-harming, truthfulness, non-stealing, the wise use of energy and non-grasping.

The niyamas guide our relationship with ourselves through clarity, contentment, committed practice, self-study and surrender.

These teachings inform almost everything I do.

Ahimsa, or non-harming, encourages me to speak to myself with greater compassion and to teach in a way that respects each person’s body.

Satya, or truthfulness, helps me recognise when I am overwhelmed, when I need to set a boundary or when I am acting from fear rather than from my values.

Brahmacharya, understood as the wise use of energy, reminds me that my time and attention are precious. I cannot give everything to everyone.

Santosha, or contentment, helps me appreciate the life that is already here rather than continually waiting for something else to make me feel complete.

Svadhyaya, or self-study, invites me to look more closely at my patterns, reactions and beliefs. Instead of immediately judging myself, I can become curious about what is happening beneath the surface.

I do not follow these principles perfectly. They are not rules I use to measure myself against. They are questions and reminders which help me find my way back when I become lost in habit, reactivity or self-doubt.

I highly recommend Deborah Adele's book on the subject as an accessible and very enjoyable way to learn more about this beautiful ethical framework.

The quiet harvest of yoga

Perhaps these are the deeper fruits of practice.

A pause before reacting. A boundary communicated clearly. The willingness to apologise. The ability to recognise when I need to rest. A little more compassion when I fall short.

My teacher training gave me far more than the ability to lead a yoga class. It introduced me to a philosophy that continues to shape the way I live.

The fruits of yoga are not found only in what the body can do. They are found in who we are gradually becoming.

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We will be exploring this all week in class, from 3rd to 8th August. You can book all classes online.