Productivity Learned to Do Yoga Too…

There’s an idea that has been quietly following me for some time now. It comes back to me again and again, every time I unroll my yoga mat. It isn’t a profound revelation or some new philosophy. It’s simply a question that has become increasingly difficult to ignore:

When did self-care stop being a refuge and become another responsibility?

I often feel as though we’re trying to do too many things well, all at once. We want to excel at work, be fully present for the people we love, eat well, exercise, sleep better, read more, spend less time on our phones, meditate, breathe mindfully and, of course, practise yoga. Everything seems to have its place in a perfectly organised schedule, and somewhere along the way we’ve started measuring our wellbeing with the very same standards we use to measure our productivity.

I don’t think this happens because we’ve forgotten how to take care of ourselves. I think it happens because we’ve learned to approach life with the belief that there is always something to improve. We can always be more mindful, healthier, more efficient, more balanced. And when that mindset becomes the lens through which we see the world, it inevitably finds its way into the very places we once turned to for relief.

I wonder how many times I’ve unrolled my mat because I genuinely needed it, and how many times because I felt I should. How often my practice has begun with curiosity, and how often it has been driven by guilt after missing a few days. How many times I’ve left class asking myself how I felt, and how many times I’ve been wondering whether I’d done enough.

It’s remarkable how deeply our culture of achievement can seep into the most unexpected places. Even rest seems to require justification. Even silence has to be productive. Even yoga, which for so many of us represents a pause from the noise of everyday life, runs the risk of becoming yet another place where we strive to become a better version of ourselves.

And yet, the longer I practise, the more convinced I become that this was never the true intention of yoga.

Over the years, I’ve realised that yoga has very little to do with collecting postures or practising every single day without fail. It isn’t about becoming more flexible, stronger or more disciplined either. Those things may happen, but they are outcomes, not the purpose.

For me, yoga begins the moment I stop asking myself what I should do and start asking what I truly need. Some days the answer is a long practice. Other days it’s simply lying on the floor for a few quiet minutes, going for a walk without looking at my phone, or accepting that rest is wiser than pushing myself through an hour on the mat. It took me a long time to understand that this, too, is practice.

Perhaps the real challenge isn’t finding more time for self-care. Perhaps it’s learning to stop turning self-care into another task to tick off before the day is over. Maybe what we need isn’t a more perfect routine, but a little less self-imposed pressure and a little more honesty about what we truly need.

We live in a culture that constantly encourages us to do more, achieve more and prove more. It’s hardly surprising that this mindset has found its way into every corner of our lives. That’s why I think it’s worth pausing every now and then to ask ourselves whether we’re still practising yoga as a way of coming home to ourselves, or whether, without even noticing, we’ve turned it into another way of chasing the feeling that we’re not quite enough.

Because perhaps self-care was never meant to be another item on our to-do list.

Perhaps it was always an invitation to stop living as though life itself were one long list of things waiting to be done.

The Yoga Gallery - Patanjali Cafe with Yoga sin fronteras

In this special episode of the Yoga Gallery Podcast, we come together for a conversation that feels more important than ever: what happens when our culture of productivity and performance finds its way onto the yoga mat?

Joining me are Meritxell Martorell, Jessica García, Sara Teller, Elena Sepúlveda, and myself, as we explore how achievement, productivity and the pressure to do everything "right" have gradually shaped the way we practise yoga.

We talk about the pressure to keep progressing, the constant pursuit of results, the influence of social media, the habit of comparing ourselves with others, and how, almost without noticing, we can turn a practice designed to help us listen inward into yet another place where we feel the need to prove ourselves, achieve more, or perform.

But we also explore another possibility.

A yoga practice that invites us to slow down, question our own expectations, and remember that the value of yoga isn't found in the most advanced posture, but in our ability to be fully present with who we are today.

This is an honest conversation between yoga teachers, sharing experiences, doubts and lessons we've learned along the way. We hope it encourages you to look at your own practice with a little more curiosity and a little less self-expectation.

Because perhaps the real question isn't how to do more yoga, but how to allow yoga to do more for us.

We hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed recording it.

Our heartfelt thanks to the Yoga Gallery team for their wonderful production, and to Yoga sin Fronteras for inviting me to be part of this meaningful conversation.