09/03/2026
There are so many beautiful yoga pictures out there. Usually they show bodies organised in incredible ways and we can only marvel at the strength, flexibility and control they possess. It can be inspiring if you are a yoga geek. But for most people it's like watching the circus. It's in the "don't do this at home" category. And something much more important is missing from these pictures - that yoga is not about the poses. Not at all.
None of us, I believe, has any true need to be able to stand on our hands or to put a leg behind us. We have no practical use of those shapes in daily life. But we do need the attention, the presence, the consistency, the focus. These are the qualities that we can transfer and use in all kinds of ways and situations.
Through the practice of yoga we can learn how to notice our breath in stressful moments. We can remember to feel our feet or the solid ground when fear rises. Yoga opens up more choices - for example the option to choose kindness towards ourselves when we make a mistake or to stay present in a difficult conversation instead of checking out.
We practice all these things on the mat. It's the laboratory where we can safely meet the discomfort of being alive in a complicated world and cultivate our responses.
In the words of renowned yoga teacher T.K.V Desikachar: "The success of yoga does not lie in the ability to perform postures but in how it positively changes the way we live our life and our relationships."
So if you would like to create your own mat laboratory, do join me in my weekly accessible and enjoyable yoga classes in Streatham. We come together not to perform but to explore.
