More Than the Poses: What Yoga Is Teaching Us About Everyday Life
Dr. Katrina Kuzyszyn-Jones
I’ve just completed the coursework for my 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training, and one of the things I appreciate most about the experience is how much it has expanded my understanding of what yoga actually is.
Like a lot of people, I used to think of yoga primarily in terms of the physical practice: poses, flexibility, balance, and maybe a little breathing and meditation added in. The physical practice is certainly part of yoga, but it is only one part.
At its core, yoga is about connection. The word itself is often translated as “to unite.” That can mean connecting mind and body, connecting more honestly with ourselves, connecting with other people, or connecting our actions with the values we say are important to us.
And that is where yoga starts to become very relevant to everyday life.
Yoga Is Not Just Asana
The physical poses we usually associate with yoga are called asana, and asana is only one of the traditional Eight Limbs of Yoga.
The Eight Limbs also include ethical principles for how we relate to other people, practices for how we relate to ourselves, breathwork, turning our attention inward, concentration, meditation, and ultimately a deeper sense of integration and connection.
Most of us probably will not spend our days thinking, “I am now practicing the fourth limb of yoga.” But the underlying ideas show up everywhere.
Those are yoga questions too.
The Yamas: How I Show Up in the World
The Yamas are five ethical principles that guide how we relate to other people and the world around us.
Ahimsa, or non-harm, asks us to consider whether our words, actions, and even the way we treat ourselves is contributing to suffering or reducing it.
Satya, or truthfulness, is not simply about telling the truth. It also asks us to communicate honestly while still considering compassion and impact.
Asteya, or non-stealing, can extend beyond taking physical possessions. It makes us think about how we use other people’s time, attention, ideas, generosity, or emotional energy.
Brahmacharya is often understood as moderation. In modern life, I think of it as noticing where “more” has become the default: more productivity, more work, more stimulation, and more accomplishment Sometimes enough really is enough.
Aparigraha, or non-grasping, asks us to look at what we cling to: possessions, roles, identities, expectations, or the belief that things must happen in a particular way. That one can get uncomfortable pretty quickly.
The Niyamas: How I Show Up for Myself
The Niyamas turn the attention inward.
They include ideas like caring for ourselves and our environments, practicing contentment, developing discipline, engaging in self-study, and learning to loosen our attachment to outcomes.
Santosha, or contentment, has been especially meaningful to me. I am naturally interested in growth. I like learning, building, improving, and figuring out what comes next. There is nothing inherently wrong with that. But there is a difference between growing because I am curious and growing because I am continually sending myself the message that whatever exists now is not quite good enough. Contentment does not mean giving up ambition. It means being able to appreciate where I am while still being interested in where I might go. That is a very different energy.
Slowing Down Is a Practice
Another major theme throughout my training has been embodiment. We spend a lot of time living from the neck up. We think, plan, analyze, anticipate, solve problems, replay conversations, and prepare for whatever comes next.
Sometimes we are so good at thinking that we barely notice what our bodies have been telling us all day.
I do not necessarily have to fix any of those things immediately. Sometimes the practice is simply noticing them.
Meditation, yoga, breathing practices, walking, writing, gardening, spending time outside, stretching, tapping, or simply pausing for a few moments can all become ways of reconnecting with the body. That may be one of the most practical applications of yoga: learning to catch ourselves earlier.
Regulation Does Not Always Mean Relaxation
My training has also reinforced something I talk about frequently in my work as a psychologist: nervous-system regulation does not mean that we should all be calm all the time (or that we can be).
Sometimes we need to settle. Sometimes we need energy. Sometimes stillness feels wonderful. Sometimes movement is exactly what we need. A long meditation may help one person feel grounded and make another person feel trapped or restless. A challenging yoga practice may feel regulating for one person, while a restorative practice may feel uncomfortable for someone else.
There is not one correct way to regulate. That is why trauma-informed yoga places so much emphasis on choice.
Those may sound like small things, but they reinforce an important message: I can pay attention to my own experience and make choices about what I need.
That is useful well beyond a yoga mat.
Yoga Also Means Looking at the Parts We Would Rather Avoid
Yoga is not all breathing, stretching, gratitude, and peaceful music. There is also self-study.
Part of my training included learning about shadow work, the practice of becoming more willing to notice the parts of ourselves that are uncomfortable to acknowledge.
The goal is not to decide that these parts are bad and eliminate them. It is to become curious about them.
That kind of self-awareness can create more choice. When I understand my patterns, I have a better chance of responding intentionally rather than simply repeating them.
Bringing Yoga Into My Own Work
I do not expect my next chapter with yoga to look like opening a traditional yoga studio. I am much more interested in using what I have learned to teach nervous-system regulation in ways that fit naturally into everyday work and life.
Across professions, people deal with deadlines, difficult conversations, long stretches of concentration, emotional demands, packed schedules, and the challenge of shifting from work mode back into the rest of life. Nervous-system regulation can be practical and brief. It does not have to require a yoga mat, special clothing, or a quiet hour in the middle of the day.
It might look like a five-minute reset between meetings, chair yoga at a desk, a breathing practice before a presentation or difficult conversation, a short meditation that does not require sitting perfectly still, or simply noticing tension before it turns into a headache. It might also mean taking a few minutes at the beginning or end of the week to look realistically at what is ahead, identify likely stress points, and make intentional room for recovery. The goal is not to eliminate stress. Stress is part of life. What interests me is helping people recognize what is happening in their bodies earlier and develop a wider range of ways to respond.
What I’m Taking With Me
Finishing the coursework for this training does not make me feel as though I have finished learning yoga. Quite the opposite. One of the messages I am taking with me is that being a teacher also means remaining a student. Yoga gives us a framework for asking some deceptively simple questions:
You do not need to stand on your head, touch your toes, chant in Sanskrit, or own a yoga mat to explore those questions.
Sometimes yoga looks like a pose. Sometimes it looks like meditation. And sometimes it simply looks like noticing what is happening, taking a breath, and choosing what you want to do next.
Watch out for more about ways you can reset your nervous system. Ready now? Reach out to drkatrina@kkjpsych.com.