‍What yoga teaches us about discomfort, growth, and staying the course:

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There’s a moment in every yoga practice when the body wants out.

You’ve been holding Warrior II just long enough for your thighs to burn, your shoulders to tremble, and your mind to start negotiating an exit strategy. The discomfort rises, the breath shortens, and the instinct is to pull away. To move, to adjust, to escape.

But that’s when the pose truly begins. Not at the start, not when everything is aligned - but in that moment of resistance. That’s the edge. That’s where the growth lives.

In yoga, we’re taught to breathe into discomfort, not away from it. To stay with the feeling, to observe it without judgment. Growth doesn’t happen when we’re gliding through ease. It happens when we stay just a little longer than we think we can.

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The same is true in life.

When a relationship challenges us to show up with more honesty. When our work stretches us to face fears or doubt. When emotions like grief, fear, or overwhelm surface and we want nothing more than to make them disappear. These are the moments we want to exit—but if we stay, even just a little longer, something begins to shift.

It’s not about pushing through pain or glorifying struggle. It’s about recognising that discomfort often signals a deeper opportunity. When we meet it with breath and awareness, we create space. We soften. And through that softening, we grow stronger—not just physically, but mentally and emotionally too.

Yoga teaches us that the breath is our anchor. That resistance is natural, but it doesn’t have to define us. That real transformation happens in the staying—not in perfection, but in presence.

So next time you find yourself in a pose - or in a moment in life - that feels like too much, try this:

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-    Inhale

-    Acknowledge the discomfort

-    Exhale

-    Soften into the space

-    And stay

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This is where the work begins. And where the most meaningful growth is found.

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