November 2026 · Off the Mat · by Tiffany Bergin, C-IAYT, CIYT
Last week in Sedona, I was again struck by something I have seen on every retreat. People come with no history of practice with me or in the Iyengar tradition. Yet they are brave enough to step into days of immersion with a teacher and a lineage they don’t yet know.
I find that so inspiring — it’s a bold thing to do. I know what this practice does for me and for so many of those who practice regularly. But when you are new to it, it can be very different from what is commonly thought of as yoga in our Western world.
Sometimes it’s a retreat, other times it’s a workshop, a series of private sessions, or a month of weekly classes. But in time, we enter into the fold. We have an experience, we feel the difference, and we begin to understand what this practice is capable of.
However it begins, the practice becomes a part of life. We turn to it in times of transition, we turn to it when we want to feel better, when we need to feel nourished.
Patañjali calls this abhyasa — steady practice, kept up over a long time, without interruption, and with devotion. We keep coming back, until it is a part of the rhythm of our lives.
We need that as we turn towards winter. We need sustaining, through the darker months and through the changes life brings. It is part of nature.
People tell me, time and time again, that they always feel better after practice. So do I, whether I am taking a class or practicing on my own at home. I always learn something. I always come away more balanced, and therefore more aligned.
What keeps us coming back is the inner pull to the deeper meaning of this practice. It sustains us — the ease, the peace, the vitality we feel when we do. Little by little, the practice folds into the very fabric of our lives.
And it is there when you need it.
Companion piece: A Gratitude Practice. All issues: Wisdom Library archive.
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