Yoga Beyond the Mat
What’s one way you practice yoga off the mat?
Most people picture yoga as downward dog, child’s pose, or maybe a headstand. And yes, the postures matter. The mat is an anchor. It’s a place where we arrive in our bodies, steady our breath, and land in the present moment. But yoga doesn’t end there. This is where Yoga Beyond the Mat begins.
The Mat as Anchor
When we move through postures, we’re not just stretching or strengthening. We’re practicing presence. Asana(s) drop us into the here and now — into sensation, breath, and awareness.
And once we’re there, we begin to notice something deeper: how the mind shapes our experience.
The Mindscape of Yoga
Patanjali, the ancient sage of yoga, defined yoga as “yogas chitta vritti nirodahah”. Yoga is the calming of the ever fluctuating states of the mind.
What does that mean in practice? It means yoga isn’t just about where your feet land in warrior pose. It’s about how you meet yourself in the moment, whether your thoughts are steady or scattered, kind or critical, uplifting or heavy.
This is the essence of Yoga Beyond the Mat: learning to witness the mind, and its position, with clarity and compassion.
Everyday Yoga
That’s why I say: you don’t need a mat to practice yoga. Because the real work shows up everywhere else.
- 🚗 Sitting in traffic, irritation might arising, and that’s where choosing to turn on your favourite song and sing along shifts irritation into enjoyment.
- 🍲 Feeling shame for going “off track” with food, or whatever your healthy lifestyle practice might be, and instead reflecting, with curiosity, what the craving was about and even why it happened.
- 💬 Or even saying no when you need to, and letting go of the guilt that tries to follow and coerce you into disregarding your intuition.
These moments are yoga too. They’re the practice of noticing, pausing, and choosing again.
Why It Matters
The poses prepare us for real life. The mat is a safe space to arrive, but the practice continues long after you roll it up.
Because yoga is less about perfect alignment and more about alignment with yourself where your body, breath, and mind work together to create steadiness, compassion, and presence. That’s what Yoga Beyond the Mat really is: the living, breathing practice of yoga woven into every day life.
An Invitation to Practice
If this resonates, I’d love for you to join me this fall. My Community Yoga class is back in person, and my online offerings are expanding too. Bring your mat! But know that what you practice here with me, I invite you to carry out into your every day.
✨ So I’ll ask again: What’s one way you practice yoga beyond the mat?
xoM
