WHAT YOGA TEACHES US ABOUT LASTING CHANGE
One of the things I've realised over the years of teaching Yoga is that I repeat myself. A lot.
For a while I thought that was a bad thing. I wondered if every class needed to be completely different, full of new ideas and fresh sequences. But I've come to realise that repetition isn't boring, it's how we create change.
If you've ever been to one of my classes, you'll have heard me gently remind you to come back to your breath.
If your mind wanders? Come back to your breath.
If you notice tension? Let the breath help you soften into the pose.
If you find yourself judging the pose or wishing it was over? Come back to your breath.
I say it over and over because every time we return, we're creating a new way of being. When the mind wanders, and we return to the breath, we're gently interrupting the constant stream of thoughts that often run on autopilot. Thoughts that have been repeated so many times they begin to feel like facts. The breath gives us a pause, and sometimes that pause is enough to see things differently. That’s how change begins.
Why Breaking Habits Feel So Difficult
Unfortunately, we often expect change to happen because we've decided we want it. We tell ourselves that from Monday everything will be different. We'll exercise more, eat better, be calmer, worry less. But our habits weren't built overnight, so why would we expect to change them overnight?
Every habit we have today is the result of repeated thoughts, emotions and actions. In psychology, we know that the more we repeat a behaviour, the stronger that neural pathway becomes. It's one of the reasons breaking habits feels so difficult. We're not just changing one behaviour; we're changing something we've reinforced hundreds, or even thousands of times. And that takes patience. It takes consistency. It takes returning again and again.
How Yin Yoga Cultivates Patience and Lasting Change
This is one of the reasons I love Yin Yoga so much. Yin doesn't ask us to force change. It teaches us that change happens gradually. We settle into a pose, and almost immediately, we want to move. Our mind tells us we've had enough. The body feels uncomfortable. We start counting down the seconds. But instead of fighting the discomfort, we learn to soften, to breathe, to allow ourselves to stay curious. And over time, something shifts. Not because we forced it to happen, but because we gave it the time and space it needed.
I think there's a lesson in that for life. We're often in such a rush to become a different version of ourselves that we forget even nature takes its time.
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished”
Trees don't rush their growth. The seasons don't skip ahead. Seeds don't become flowers overnight. Everything unfolds in its own time. Maybe we should allow ourselves that same patience.
How Repeated Thoughts Become Lifelong Patterns
Many of the beliefs we carry about ourselves began much earlier in life. As children, we experience something difficult, and our minds naturally try to make sense of it. We create beliefs to protect ourselves.
"I'm not good enough."
"I have to please everyone."
"I always get left behind."
Perhaps the experience happened once, but we replay it in our minds for years. Every time we repeat that story, we strengthen the neuropathway until it feels like that's simply who we are. The good news is that our minds can learn something new. But only through repetition. Only through awareness.
This is why mindful practices are so powerful. They help us notice what's happening rather than automatically reacting to it. Mindfulness doesn't have to mean sitting cross-legged with your eyes closed. It could simply be paying attention to your footsteps on a walk, feeling the warmth of your cup of tea or listening to your breath while you're waiting for the kettle to boil. Every moment of awareness is another opportunity to choose a different response. To strengthen a new pathway.
How Yoga Rewrites Our Physical Habits
Our bodies tell a similar story. Many of us spend years sitting at desks, driving cars or looking down at our phones. Little by little, our bodies adapt.
Hip flexors become tight.
Glutes become weaker.
Shoulders round forward.
Balance gradually declines.
Before long, stiffness or pain begins to feel normal. But just as those patterns were created through repetition, they can be changed through repetition too.
Each Yoga class is another opportunity to restore movement, improve strength and flexibility, reconnect with balance and give the body the space it's been asking for. It doesn't happen in one class. It happens because you keep coming back.
So many of you have told me that your weekly class has made a real difference. You've noticed less stiffness, a quieter mind, fewer aches, better sleep, or simply feeling more like yourself again. None of that happened because of one perfect class. It happened because you showed up. Again and again. Consistency is where the magic lives.
If you're curious about experiencing Yin Yoga and its benefits and creating change, I'll be running another Yin Yoga Pop-Up at Bedhampton Community Centre this August. I'll confirm the dates very soon, so keep an eye on your inbox. If you're not already on my mailing list, you can sign up here to be the first to hear when bookings open.
And if you've been thinking about starting Yoga, or returning to your practice after some time away, I'd love to welcome you to one of my classes in Emsworth or Havant. Book Here.
If getting to a class isn't possible, or you'd simply like to try Yoga first, you can begin in the comfort of your own home with my free Yoga class Here.
You don't need to change your whole life overnight. Just keep coming back. One breath. One practice. One small step at a time.
