Is Yoga Really Out of Style?

I want to start by sharing these beautiful words by Brigit Anna McNeill with you:

"We have been taught to look outward for evidence that we are alive. To flower, to grow, to produce, to be visible.

Yet the earth knows another way of living.

There are seasons when life draws inwards, when roots deepen in darkness, when the invisible world is rich with all that is quietly growing beyond our sight.

We belong to these rhythms too...

Autumn draws us into the rich, dark world of decomposition, where the forest is alive with the alchemy of decay and transformation."

I've been hearing a lot lately that "yoga has gone out of style." To me, hearing this feels like being told that introspection is outdated, that compassion is no longer fashionable, or that the pursuit of connecting more deeply with ourselves and the world around us has somehow lost its relevance.

For those of us who have been fortunate enough to experience the richness of yoga beyond the poses, we understand that Yoga was never a style to try on or wear for a season.

The practice of Yoga welcomes us, and holds us, and accepts us in every season.

It can accentuate our joy of celebration, embrace our sorrow in loss, and be a refuge of stability when everything around us feels like it's changing. Yoga envelops us when we need peaceful quiet. It liberates our voice when we need to roar courageously. It reminds us that divine light is carried inside of us— even when that light sometimes feels very far away.

Yoga is a sacred practice of connecting. Not a trend that comes and goes.

A practice of connection for all seasons and circumstances of life— not just the sparkly, popular ones. This connection is meant to be found between our own mind, body, and soul. This connection is meant to be nurtured between what we feel and what we know. This connection is meant to be shared with the people practicing on the mats next to us.

Just as trees do not grow alone in the forest, we are meant to grow together, alongside one another, branches intertwined, leaves overlapping, roots intermingling to solidly ground us and those around us. We do not come to yoga because we are perfect.

We do not come to yoga because we are broken.

We come to yoga because we are.

And yoga is for the living. During this autumn season, when the darkness is so prevalent and the veil between worlds is thin, Yoga continues to offer a safe and sacred practice where all can be held and accepted— the visible and the invisible.

Yoga was never meant to simply be an activity that makes you feel good for an hour or so once a week. Yoga was never meant to just make you more flexible. Yoga is a life-style practice meant to be woven through the years of our lives. Each breath, a gentle invitation to notice what is happening beneath the surface.

Each movement, a living reminder that regardless of circumstances, you are connected here and now to this precious, physical embodiment.

Each pause, a balm to your ever-working subconscious mind and nervous system. Every time you step onto your mat, you are fashioning another pebble, laying another brick, growing a deeper root in a foundation of self-love and compassion. A foundation that is built patiently, a few consistent moments at a time. A foundation that is strong enough to show up even on our worst days— especially on those days.

Through life's seasons, the hardships we endure, the victories that illuminate us, and the transformations that shape us, this sacred practice invites us, again and again, to deepen our relationship with ourselves, with the world around us, and with the light that guides us.

May your practice be one that grows with you, accompanies you through all your metamorphoses, and reminds you often that you belong fully to life— in all its seasons, even those of darkness and decomposition.