🌿🕉️ A Journey Home Through Yoga 🕉️🌿

✉Dear Readers,

🌞 Happy International Day of Yoga! 

🌿 May you find strength in every breath, peace in every pause, and a deeper connection with yourself through the journey of yoga. 🕉️✨ 

🌿 How have you been lately? I hope you are doing well, both physically and mentally. 

🍃 Life moves quickly, and in the rush of everyday responsibilities, we often forget to pause and simply be with ourselves. Yoga has been a gentle reminder for me to do exactly that. 

🕊️ For me, yoga is a journey of knowing myself better and reconnecting with the self within. 

🌿 Yes, you read that right. 

🌱 When I was a child, I never truly understood meditation, yoga, or breathing techniques. I used to think they were meant for certain people and were far too profound for someone like me to understand. Even when I attended a few sessions, I was barely present and never fully grasped their significance. 

🌸 Looking back, I realize that some things reveal their meaning only when we are ready to receive them. 

✨ I still remember joining the SKY Yoga program. At the time, it was one of the most profound experiences I had encountered. The sessions introduced me to yoga, meditation, breathing techniques, and an entirely new way of looking at life. 

🌙 Yet, once the course ended, I rarely continued those practices at home. Looking back, I realize I was young and in that phase of life where I believed I knew it all. I felt that simply learning the techniques was enough and that I could return to them whenever I needed them. 

🍂 What I did not understand then was that yoga is not something we simply learn—it is something we experience, practice, and grow with over time. 

🌼 Back then, yoga felt exciting and enjoyable. It was about attending classes, learning different asanas, listening to new ideas, meeting like-minded people, and returning home with a sense of accomplishment. 

🌻 What I did not realize was that I was carrying home something far more valuable than a few techniques or lessons. I was barely eighteen, and perhaps too young to truly understand the depth of what had been planted within me. 

🌧️ Like everyone else, I experienced my own share of life's ups and downs, each leaving behind its own lesson. 

🍂 There were health challenges, dreams that did not unfold as planned, and life lessons that arrived far sooner than my twenty-one-year-old heart was ready for. Alongside all of this was my struggle with obesity, which often felt like the heaviest burden I carried during those years. 

🤍 There were days when I constantly blamed myself. I wondered if I had dreamed too much, overworked myself, cared too deeply, or given too much of my heart to others. I questioned my inability to say no, my habit of carrying burdens that were never mine alone, and my tendency to feel everything a little more deeply than most. 

🌾 Looking back, I realize that my childhood carried its own share of challenges. School was not always a place of comfort for me; moments of harsh punishment and criticism left quiet marks on my heart that took years to understand and heal. Being mocked for my weight only deepened those feelings. Yet with time, I learned to look back on those memories with understanding rather than resentment, recognizing them as chapters that quietly shaped my resilience and growth. 

🫂 At one point in my life, I weighed 110 kilograms. Looking back, it was not just a physical struggle—it was an emotional one too. I had lost faith in my body, questioned my abilities, and often felt weighed down by my own thoughts. 

🌿 Over time, I began making small changes and slowly rebuilding my relationship with myself. Through patience, consistency, and a willingness to keep going even on the most difficult days, I lost nearly 50 kilograms. 

🌱 What I did not realize then was that this phase of my life would eventually lead me back to myself. 

🌿 I know life has not offered the same opportunities to all of us, yet this path has taught me that even on the most uneven roads, we can slowly create a way forward with patience, courage, and faith. 

🌅 Years after my first introduction to yoga, the journey found me again—this time when I was truly ready to receive it. What once felt like a set of techniques slowly became a way of living and understanding myself. 

👨‍👧 For years, I heard stories about how yoga changed people's lives. I admired them, but they always felt like someone else's story. Today, I understand them differently. 

🌟 My father has practiced yoga for more than two decades, caring for his health with remarkable discipline and consistency. Looking back, he was my first example. 

❤️ He faced a serious heart condition at a relatively young stage of life, yet through every challenge life placed before him, he never abandoned his practice. His quiet dedication and perseverance remain one of my greatest sources of inspiration. 

🌼 And now, having experienced its impact in my own life, I have become a witness to that transformation as well. What once sounded like someone else's story has, in many ways, become my own. 

💫 There were moments when I wanted to give up on myself, but a quiet question stayed with me: 

💭 "If not now, then when?" 

🌙 That question carried me through many difficult days. 

🥗 As my practice deepened, I began to notice changes that reached far beyond the physical. Without consciously trying to, I found myself making kinder choices with food and treating my body with greater care. The way I spoke became gentler, my thoughts felt clearer, and I learned to meet life with greater patience. 

✨ These changes arrived quietly, almost without announcement, yet they transformed me in ways I never expected. 

☀️ There were days when I completed 108 rounds of Surya Namaskar, days devoted to breathwork, mantra chanting, and meditation, and days when I simply sat in silence, listening to my mind and body without trying to change either. 

🕯️ In those moments, I began to understand that yoga was never about perfection. It was about awareness, acceptance, and presence. 

⚓ One of the greatest lessons yoga has taught me is that growth is never a straight line. No matter how much we change our lifestyle, habits, or choices, there will be seasons that test us. There will be moments when circumstances shake everything we have carefully built over the years. 

🌿 In those moments, I have learned something important: never abandon the practice of knowing yourself. 

🌱 It is okay to pause along the way. Rest is not the same as giving up. Even when you cannot move forward as quickly as you once did, remain close to your practice and close to yourself. Some days, simply showing up is enough. 

🍃 Growth happens quietly—one day at a time, one breath at a time. 

🕉️ One teaching that continues to stay close to my heart comes from the Bhagavad Gita: 

📖 "Samatwam Yoga Uchyate" — Equanimity is Yoga. 

🌟 The older I grow, the more I understand the depth of those words. 

📜 As I reflect on this journey today, I feel deeply grateful to be a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) through the Sri Sri School of Yoga, with affiliations to Yoga Alliance USA, the Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India, and the Indian Yoga Association (IYA). 

📖 What began as a personal search for healing and understanding gradually grew into a path of learning, practice, and service. Looking back, I could never have imagined that this journey would bring me here. 

🙏 None of this would have been possible without the unwavering support of my parents, the guidance of my teachers and mentors, the blessings of Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ji, who introduced me to this path, and my Guru Sai Baba, whose presence and grace have accompanied me through every step of the journey. 

🌍 Yoga has been passed down through generations by countless teachers and traditions, each carrying its own unique wisdom. My hope is that you choose yoga in whatever form speaks to your heart and allow it to become a gentle companion on your journey of self-discovery and growth. 

🏡 What I once thought was a practice became a way of life, and what began as a journey of healing became a journey home. 

🌿 On this International Day of Yoga, I am filled with gratitude—for every lesson, every challenge, every teacher, every breath, and every step that brought me here. 

🌍 Some journeys take us across the world. Others bring us back home to ourselves. 

🌿 For me, yoga has been both. 

📜 As we each continue on our journey of self-discovery, I would love to hear your stories and experiences. Do write to me—I would truly love to read your thoughts and reflections.

With warmth and love,

✍️ Raasi