Show Up? What Does It Even Mean?

“I’m already so stressed at work. I don’t want to come to yoga and feel more things—I just want to relax and feel good.”

Sound familiar? You’re not alone.

A lot of us step onto the mat hoping to shake off the stress, move a little, sweat, and leave feeling lighter. And yes, yoga can do that. But if you’ve practiced long enough, you know it does something more—it doesn’t just help us escape stress, it teaches us how to face it differently.

The thing is, we don’t get to leave our emotions at the door.

Whatever we carry—frustration, self-doubt, exhaustion—it follows us onto the mat.

And sometimes, the practice brings it all up, right there in the middle of a forward fold. Not to overwhelm us, but to remind us: this is what’s inside.

And that can feel uncomfortable. Maybe even frustrating.

But (a very BIG but) running from it won’t make it go away.

Yoga teaches us two things: be present, and be honest with ourselves.

Instead of avoiding discomfort, we learn to breathe through it.

Instead of brushing emotions aside, we learn to sit with them, without letting them take over. This is where the real change happens—not just in how we move, but in how we deal with life outside the studio.

And no, it’s not easy. It takes practice. A LOT of practice.

But the more we show up—on the good days, the bad days, and the I’d-rather-just-go-home days—the more we realize that feeling good isn’t about avoiding what’s hard.

It’s about learning to move through it, with patience and compassion.

So if you're here just to feel good, that’s totally okay.

Just know that the real magic of yoga isn’t in escaping what we feel—it’s in learning how to honestly accept it, and still finding ease within.

And that?

That’s the kind of good that lasts.