Yogaś citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ
Yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind.
Yoga Sutra I.2
I will try to describe this verse by Patanjali in my own words that briefly tell my story and the path that has led me to where I am today.
I began practicing yoga in November 2019 after several difficult experiences that left a profound mark on my life. However, those experiences are not what define me today. Rather, they are the reason I now find myself in a completely different place in life than I was back then.
I still remember the moment I thought yoga might help me manage my panic attacks and everything that came with them. That thought was confirmed the very first time I stepped onto a yoga mat.
For an entire hour, my mind was focused only on understanding where to place my hands and feet, which movements to make, and when to inhale and exhale. You feel confused and, at the same time, you reach such a deep level of concentration that everything else simply disappears.
As I walked home after those unfamiliar and unusual movements, I realized something extraordinary: there were no thoughts. Anyone who has experienced obsessive thoughts—the ones that knot your stomach and slowly consume you—knows exactly what I mean. During that hour, they had simply vanished.
Savasana (the final relaxation posture, often translated as “Corpse Pose”) became a way of taking care of myself: allowing my body to melt into the earth and letting my thoughts flow until they dissolved, if only for a few minutes.
From that moment on, I felt the urge to return a second, a third, a fourth, and countless more times, just to experience that feeling of well-being again. Little by little, yoga became a date with myself.
At first, that feeling was only temporary. Bringing yoga into everyday life is perhaps the greatest challenge and a lifelong practice—it is the next step after years on the mat. And that is exactly why I continue to practice: to live more peacefully, to be myself, and to find my way back whenever I feel lost.
Life is a cycle where nothing is ever truly linear, and we all need a solid foundation to land on. That safe place can be built, and ultimately discovered, within ourselves.
To me, this is the essence of yoga: the ability to pause our thoughts and return to our natural state of calm and joy.
My invitation is simple: try your first yoga class, or return to your appointment with yourself. You may need yoga more than you can imagine.
With love,
Silvana
