Why I practice Yoga 4 hours daily

At home, in solitude, and in bliss.

I sometimes practice with the mirror to see my form from an external perspective, but prefer and usually practice without the mirror, looking out the windows and watching the clouds go by.

The most common question I get about my daily yoga practice is: why? Friends and students are also curious about how to make the time and dedication, but those aspects flow naturally from the Why: you will always dedicate time to (who and) what you love.

Why I love yoga:

Entering the physical flow state frees the mind for clear and creative thoughts.

It’s a sacred space-time, without expectations to respond or produce anything for the outside world. That freedom to move and be expressive and attentive to oneself is clarifying: we naturally process the events and feelings of our life. That state of clarity is baseline for creativity, which is a mind-body state that feels natural and joyous, like childhood.

But mainly, I practice yoga daily because it elevates me.

I can feel my body with depth and sensitivity, heal what feels constricted or unwell, and consciously create space so that I feel expansive: open in body and mind.

I practice Ashtanga 2nd series daily, but like to experiment in ways that would get me in so much trouble if I were practicing in a traditional, public setting!

We don’t always know what needs healing until we spend deep time exploring with mind and body together in intentional movement. This is, technically, “preventative care”, or taking care of what lies below the baseline sensation of “ok” and even “good”. That raises your baseline, making your “good” a new level of better.

I’ve become accustomed to finding that I can do things that I never thought I was capable of, so now I just bypass the limiting ideas and work towards what I really want, both on and off the mat.

Alone, without the distractions of other people sweating onto you, you can go deeper into your inner awareness

Energy is a concept that for me has transformed from what I studied in my Physics and Chemistry classes into something I can sense, strengthen, change, and direct towards action or draw back toward rest.

Practically speaking, I feel good from the moment I wake up. No caffeine, no drugs, no alcohol, no naps, just generally level, sustained energy until I feel a quick change and know it’s time to sleep.

The longer I have been practicing, the higher the quality of my sleep and lower the quantity: I sleep 4–6 nightly, wake up without an alarm, and am ready to get on my mat or go out for a run. I notice how often other people say they are tired, because I so rarely feel that way.

Being able to feel the body with sensitivity means that choosing what and when to eat becomes easier than rule-based dieting, which, over time, has freed a lot of mental space for me and my clients.

Health writers/reporters often describe yoga as beneficial for stress reduction, disease prevention, pain management, weight loss, a pill-free method for addressing anger, anxiety, and depression for a natural sense of well-being. All of these things are true, data-demonstrably true. But the untold story is the inside feeling, what goes deeper than before-and-after pictures. It’s the richness of relationship with one’s own life.

Learning to trust your own strength, in solitude, is an invaluable skill today in quarantine.