Your yoga practice, those 45 minutes or more that you spend on the yoga mat, give you much more than balance, health and Instagram clicks. They give you some valuable life lessons that mold you silently into a becoming a better yogi and a great person, too! Have you been taking notes? Well, we’ve taken them for you.

5 Life lessons your yoga practice teaches you

1. Every day is not the same

Some days your yoga moves flow seamlessly. One asana after the other, you do a fab job at acing the class in your yoga studio. You return home feeling content, your muscles stretched and worked out just enough.But other days, you seem to be all over the place. Your yoga teacher has to come to the rescue and get you into and out of that complex yoga pose. Just like that, every day in life is not the same. Some days are good, some days are bad. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Take each day like you take your yoga class. Give it your best and enjoy it.

2. Take baby steps

Learn to crawl before you walk, and walk before you run. We’ve all heard that, right? But we are impatient to get to the finish line. In relationships, at work, while learning a new language or teaching someone, we get restless and want the icing on the cake first. Yoga practice teaches you to start slow and steady. If you don’t take those initial baby steps, you will never be able to get to the complicated moves ahead.

3. This too shall pass

Remember how difficult it gets when you are in that uncomfortable hip opening pose, but you stay in that and embrace it with all your energy. And then it’s over, you are back to your standing pose again. It’s just a few moments of discomfort but they make you appreciate ordinary stance like standing straight or lying down. If you’re going through a bad phase, your yoga practice teaches you to hang in there, it’s just a phase, focus on the light at the end of the tunnel. 

4. Be glamorous and sweaty, be you

You don’t wake up every morning looking like Kim Kardashian or like all those pretty Vancouver yoga girls and Toronto yoga teachers you follow on Instagram. When you do yoga you get sweaty, the foundation won’t stay and you lose the cool new hairstyle you just made while watching a youtube tutorial. But after your yoga class, especially your hot yoga class, you are going to probably go for a shower and step out with a healthy glow. And she’s back, the glamorous diva! Just love yourself for whatever you are, sweaty or pretty. Take this lesson from your yoga practice and embrace yourself the way you are. You’ll get the time to look great and flawless, don’t pressurize yourself and push too hard. You are pretty, always. Yoga is your you time, and sometimes

5. There is never a destination

Is there an end to your yoga practice really? Where do you see yourself a few years from now? Maybe in a different yoga studio, or maybe teaching a yoga class. Wanderlusting? There is no real destination. It’s the journey that matters. Yoga is a beautiful journey, that never stops. And so is life. Stop to smell the flowers. Inhale and exhale. Don’t worry about where you are headed to. Just enjoy the trip.

From the yoga studio to your every day life, your asanas are teaching you something new every day. Stay in touch with your inner self, when you hear your soul, your body won’t need to scream. Share these lessons with your yoga friends and spread the knowledge. Namaste!