Yoga has woven in and out of my life for as long as I can remember. In fact, I began practicing yoga before I even knew it.  At a very young age, my mother introduced a daily practice of mantra and prayer to our morning routine. Throughout my childhood into adulthood, I engaged (and continue to engage) in a deeper study of the philosophical and spiritual aspects of Yoga through Swadhyaya (self-study). From ages 7-18 years old, I was introduced to yoga asana, pranayama, and meditation to complement my 11-year study of the Indian classical dance form, Bharat Natyam.

Throughout college, I turned to yoga to manage the stresses and anxieties of my studies. I also hoped it would help me feel more connected to myself and the community I practiced with - but I had the opposite experience. Regardless of which studio I went to, I watched the teachers and students around me connecting and interacting with each other, but looking right through me as if I didn’t exist. At first I thought it was because I was new and they didn’t know me very well, but this happened repeatedly even after some time.This left me feeling confused and even more disconnected to myself. I couldn’t understand what was happening. I began to wonder if it was because I was [typically] the only Indian student in attendance - but that didn’t make much sense, because the teachers said, “Namaste” in class and shouted poses in Sanskrit, there were “Om” symbols hanging on the walls, Indian deities in every corner, and the smell of incense burning in the studio - all things I grew up with and that were a part of me and my Indianness. So where was the disconnect? Or the better question is, where is there still a disconnect?

What I came to learn is missing in the western world of yoga is the acknowledgement of what the symbols or practices mean and most importantly where they originated from. This profoundly spiritual practice originating from South Asia over 5,000 years ago has been stripped of its origin and essence and reduced over the years to another “workout”. In my heart, I knew there was more to this practice that I was missing out on. In 2019, I enrolled in a teacher training program to dig deeper into yoga and my connection with myself. It was during this 6 month program where I realized I had been practicing yoga my entire life. We revisited everything I had grown up learning with a different perspective; one drew it all together. Throughout this process, I began to see and feel immense transformations within myself and in my life, and felt inspired to be a yoga guide for others.

The more I learned, the more I began to realize there is no limit to what you can learn through yoga. Yoga exists far beyond the four corners of a mat, it is a way of life. My entire perspective of yoga has evolved and shifted over the years and will likely continue to as I go deeper on this path.