A Reflection on Yoga & a Lifelong Practice

Salla Vedder
Jan 14
4 min read

When I observe the modern yoga world, I notice how practices are drifting into something we try to achieve.

I see masterclasses for a certain pose.Teacher trainings for a certain level. Yogis working toward a desired posture, mindset, mood, or image of what yoga — or a yogi — is supposed to look like.

And while all of this can be part of the practice journey, I notice how easily we begin to measure ourselves by flexibility, strength, and progress.

This is not a measurement I feel signed into.

For me, yoga is not about achievement, success, or failure.

Yoga is something innately within us. It already exists inside us. And as we turn toward it, we begin to realize its presence.

And that recognition — that remembering — for me, is yoga.

Yoga is not something we become better at.

Yoga is our natural state.

It is the way we breathe after years of shortening, suppressing, and holding our breath. We know how to breathe deeply. We know how to come out of the head and into the body. We simply forget.

Yoga is the way we stand when we root into Samasthiti — equal standing — and tap into ancient, dormant energies within us.

Yoga is the way we see through our eyes and hear through our ears, and begin to fix ourselves less.

Yoga is the way we feel before, during and at the end of practice — whether it is one breath or six hundred breaths long. It is the sense of self-respect. The awareness of doubt. The quiet presence with both.

It lives inside every one of us, whether we realize it or not.

As the Yoga Sutra reminds us:“Then the seer abides in its own nature.”

Yoga is remembering.

And yet, I see many yoga trainings focused on teaching people how to become yoga teachers — how to teach poses, how to guide a calm mind.

There is much value in learning these skills and stepping in front of the group to guide them. But what we teach in INBODHI goes beyond these techniques.

My trainer used to say: “We are young, but we still got this." We carry an ancient lineage.

A lineage that teaches us to seek the guru within, rather than seeking validation from gurus outside of ourselves.

INBODHI training awakens the teacher within.

Our training is an embodied experience — not so much of a yogic lecture to listen to, but something to live.

When you feel called to yoga — whether as a practitioner or a facilitator — our trainings focus first on your relationship with the practice itself.

We support you in building a lifelong connection with yoga so that it becomes a compass for your life, not just a new profession.

In today’s yoga culture, I see yoga presented as something difficult. As something that requires years of discipline, sacrifice, effort, and achievement. As if union must be earned. I am not signed into that - and from my own experience, I know another truth.

After completing my (first) 200-hour training, I sold all my belongings, moved to another country, opened a yoga studio, and after a month of opening began leading teacher trainings myself — with support of an international community.

Many doubted my readiness. Many questioned my ability. Many still think it was too early for me to train teachers.

But through my training with It’s Yoga, I learned that my only real work was to step aside and let yoga lead.

Yes, the path can feel challenging at times.

Bodies resist. Minds cling to habits. Blind spots repeat themselves.

Human hearts carry weight — stored in our nervous systems and somatic, emotional memory.

But yoga itself is not meant to be hard.

I believe yoga is the most natural and inspired way to connect in this lifetime. It comes in many forms and teaches us through every moment of our lives.

We do not notice every heartbeat. We do not notice every breath. Yet life is happening continuously.

In the same way, yoga is happening now — as you read these words and as I write them.

It is in the body. In movement. In breath. In awareness. In healing and in vision.

It is in our connection to life force and vitality — and in our awareness of our resistance to it.

We can choose again, differently.

We can choose courage. We can choose vulnerability. We don't need to intellectualize it all - we can choose to trust the mystery again.

Yoga is a journey of the Self, in the Self, through the Self, with the Self.

-Bhagavad Gita reminds us.

This is what we explore in our teacher training circles. A Journey -

You begin to shift your expectations of yoga in your life — as a practitioner and as a facilitator. You learn to release pressure from your practice and from yourself. And in doing so, you also release pressure from your teaching. This all evolves off your mat - into your life.

The training creates space to listen deeply. To honor inner guidance, and to move on and off the mat with more presence, with clarity. To establish new career paths in your own unique way.

During the training, you rediscover something authentic and real within yourself, and in others — and that discovery continues to grow.

You experience presence in a way you may not have known before. You reconnect with your inner voice and the peace it brings. You learn to trust the wisdom within you that guided you into yoga in the first place.

Together, we step into a lineage that has travelled through generations, institutions, communities, and countless lived experiences.

This is yoga that existed before titles, alliances, and certifications. It lives close to the human heart.

Yoga is not a destination. It is not a performance. It is not a version of yourself you must reach.

It is the remembering of who you already are.

And the moment you return to that innocence —that moment is where yoga begins.

"Atha yoga-anuśāsanam"

Yoga was never outside of you.

It has always been our innermost home. OM

How do you experience yoga?

How has your relationship with yoga changed over time?

What keeps you coming to your practice?

If you feel called to connect - you are warmly invited to learn more about our upcoming trainings in Fuerteventura, Canary Islands here