ShivaniYoga

Wednesday Wisdom

When we hold postures with attention rather than rushing through them, the nervous system begins refining how the body moves, stabilizes, and responds. In many ways, yoga is not only flexibility training. It is awareness training.

Practice with me!

One thing I have observed over years of teaching is how much expectation some people sometimes bring into group yoga classes.

A group class is a shared space. There may be beginners, long time practitioners, people recovering from injuries, athletes, seniors, and students returning after years away from movement all practicing together in the same room. Because of that, it is impossible for a teacher to offer the same level of individual attention that one might receive in a private session.

Sometimes students also expect to feel immediately comfortable, capable, supported, seen, corrected, encouraged, and emotionally reassured all within one class. But yoga, especially in a group setting, often asks for patience first. A relationship with a teacher, a class, and even one’s own body takes time to build.

As teachers, we are also navigating a delicate balance. If we immediately correct or closely observe a new student, some people feel supported while others may feel singled out, self conscious, or as though they are doing something wrong. Every student responds differently.

Another important reality is that discomfort in class is not always physical. Sometimes what feels most difficult is the experience of comparison. Being the only person struggling in a room can feel emotionally uncomfortable, but that discomfort is often coming from self judgment rather than judgment from others.

Yoga is not about proving capability in one class. It is a relationship developed over time through consistency, humility, awareness, and patience with oneself.

And perhaps one of the deeper lessons of yoga is learning how to stay present even when we are not the strongest, most flexible, or most experienced person in the room.

Here is my picture 26 years back of my first run…I was struggling, bad timing but I kept on going. It did not matter who is watching me or who is judging but I knew I have to keep going…

Keeping the expectations low and doing what needs to be done is a practice that needs to be cultivated in Yoga.

Sanyasa — the final stage after Vanaprastha in the Hindu system of life stages. A stage often described as renunciation, but I no longer see it as withdrawal from life. In fact, perhaps it symbolizes finishing strong — much like the final stretch of a marathon or the closing rhythm of a long race well lived.

As I write this last post in my Saturday series on the stages of life, I realize I do not fully know what lies ahead. But I do know this: the knowledge gathered while moving through each season of life is irreversible. Every joy, heartbreak, responsibility, mistake, celebration, grief, and awakening leaves its imprint. I do not return unchanged.

Vanaprastha taught me to slowly loosen my grip — on roles, on outcomes, on the constant need to achieve. And now I find myself wondering about Sanyasa. Not as an idea from scripture, but as a lived inner state. What does it mean to grow older while staying inwardly alive? To simplify without becoming distant? To keep learning while also learning to let go?

A couple of years ago, while writing my book, Raj Yog: Freedom Awaits, I wrote these words: “Let the end be the beginning, and let me be able to practice Surya Namaskars till the very end.”

Perhaps that is my vision after all. Not some grand spiritual image, but simply the hope of remaining connected — to breath, to movement, to gratitude, and to the quiet discipline of beginning again each morning.

Perhaps Sanyasa is not about leaving the world behind. Perhaps it is about becoming lighter within it — like a leaf hovering freely in the wind, untethered, peaceful, and liberated.

Health in Vanaprastha feels like a paradox to me. My body feels stronger than ever through yoga and discipline, but emotionally I feel more vulnerable than before. I experience more freedom, yet time feels more real and limited now. Watching children grow and move into their own lives is both beautiful and painful. It teaches me vairagya — loving fully, but not holding on too tightly. Health here is not only physical strength, but the ability to stay steady while life keeps changing inside and around me.

This stage also brings natural changes in the cycle of womanhood. Menopause, sleepless nights, and changes in the face and body are no longer seen as weakness. They feel like nature moving as it should. My mother once said, “We never really get old, only the body changes like old clothes. The spirit never gets old.” I feel the truth of her words now. It reminds me of the Bhagavad Gita — the soul does not age, only the body transforms. My father also taught me, “Age is a privilege denied to many, and if old things do not make space, new life cannot enter.” Life too must keep moving forward with grace.

Vanaprastha means slowly stepping back from the busy world and turning inward, not to escape life, but to live it with more peace and less attachment. It is a stage where responsibilities reduce, and the focus shifts from doing more to understanding life, accepting aging, and finding calm in change. True health in this stage is not just a strong body, but a quiet mind, emotional balance, and the ability to let life flow without holding on too tightly.

Backwards is about maintaining balance between spinal flexibility and leg strength! Maintain the balance between flexibility and strength- so much for Wednesday wisdom

Moving from the student years (Brahmacharya) into the householder stage (Grihastha) felt like being thrown into the deep end. Suddenly, I wasn’t just a student or a child anymore; my roles multiplied. Jobs, friendships, marriage, kids—expecting and delivering on expectations. The “drama” really starts here. It’s a massive web of relationships where everyone is demanding something.

I struggled. I didn’t have the energy to keep up, and I felt trapped in a “Charlotte’s Web” of my own life (pun intended). I struggled with my own health, so how could I keep up with everything that demanded physical and mental strength? Everything I learned in my student years felt lost, buried under the distractions—the Moh Maya (illusions) of material life. At the time, I couldn’t quite comprehend it. We often think “ideal health” is a certain body shape or a perfect aesthetic, but I learned that health is actually about energy. It’s about finding calm in the chaos—moving from a reactive mind to a responsive one.

Then, yoga happened by accident. It took years to rewire my old patterns, but I finally learned that health in this stage is about way more than just the body. I realized my body is a vessel, a sacred place. It’s not something to obsessively push for looks, but a home to be cared for. Yoga shifted my “inner lens” back from the outside world to my inner world. That introspection is where things began to get better. It’s about the food you eat, moving to stay strong, and creating the headspace to communicate without feeling drained. If I hadn’t found this path, I can only imagine how much harder the 3rd stage of life would have been. Life is full of opportunities—we just have to be open enough to see them.