I started yoga in my second year of university in an attempt to channel away some of the antsy energy I had built up sitting at a computer or in lecture for hours on end; after years of having scheduled physical activity as part of my everyday life, I did not adjust well to an almost purely sedentary lifestyle.  Hours of physical inactivity that were still mentally and emotionally engaging meant that I barely had enough energy left at the end of the day to eat and clean, nevermind work out, but I was still inexplicably restless at the end of the day and often had trouble sleeping. 

Yoga was a flexible enough practice (no pun intended) that if I only had the energy to fold forward and take deep breaths that was fine, and if I was wired and needing to burn off some restlessness before I could sleep that was fine too.  I would finish a practice with a sense of calm energy that could sleep deeply or be unusually productive, depending on the flow.  It was as if there was more time in the day; I had time to eat well, have a life, finish all my work, and I was able to sleep at the end of the day.  I stopped dragging myself through tasks when the energy just wasn't there, I knew I could take a yoga break and come back to finish things later in plenty of time. 

I gradually realized that being healthy and well-rested meant that I was also more productive, and the whole trope of working %110 in order to be successful was completely backwards.  Realizing this made me more willing to pay attention to my own wellbeing, kicking off a cycle of better habits and an overall happier life.  

Many people find yoga asana as a starting point towards creating a healthier and happier lifestyle; the physical practice on its own is not the be all and end all of health, but it brings you into a community that supports moving away from an overworked lifestyle in which people consciously disconnect from themselves to accommodate some external image of success, and provides an entry point through which other healthy, compassionate habits can enter.      

Yoga asana is a tool that can help you to manage your life, and provide a space for you to decide on the habits and practices that truly serve you.

Sara Gray is a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) with Yoga Alliance, which acknowledges the completion of a yoga teacher training with an approved and active Registered Yoga School (RYS).