Yoga for a Reason, Season, or Lifetime
There’s a saying that some people – or things – come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.
I think this applies beautifully to yoga, too.
In this discussion we reflect on yoga styles and trends past, present, and emerging and to connect trends back to the fundamentals and timeless principles of yoga.
This discussion includes journal prompts – you can download a journaling worksheet here – to help you to explore and consider:
- which aspects of your practice feel lasting vs fleeting.
- how trends influence yoga teaching and personal practice
- how we can connect modern yoga explorations to deeper yogic values and intentions
Watch the video below, or scroll down for the discussion notes and download the worksheet here to follow along with your own insights and reflections.
Yoga for a Reason, Season, or Lifetime
There’s a saying that some people – or things – come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.
I think this applies beautifully to yoga, too.
Over the years, our practice goes through its own cycles. There are periods when we’re deeply connected to a particular style, lineage, or approach – sometimes for a very specific reason, sometimes for a longer season, and sometimes we discover practices that will stay with us for a lifetime.
This week I wanted to talk about how different styles and trends in yoga can influence our practice and teaching, how we might identify what’s lasting and what might be more fleeting, and perhaps help us connect modern trends to our deeper values and intentions.
Like many of you, my own yoga journey reflects these reasons and seasons.
When I began practicing yoga I was doing Sivananda yoga for a reason – the reason being it was the only yoga class in my small town. It was a great introduction to yoga practice and philosophy, but it wasn’t really the style for me, and I moved on when I had greater access to yoga options.
For a while I floated around exploring some different styles and trends of the time and found myself digging into Ashtanga for a big season. It was exciting and challenging and helped me more deeply establish my practice.
I also had seasons with alignment-based yoga, more metaphysically oriented yoga, and chanting and Kirtan – but I moved on from each of those styles taking some of what I learned with me.
Eventually, many of those experiences blended into the Vinyasa Flow practice that I still love today.
Journal Prompt:
Can you see some reasons and seasons in your own journey at this stage?
Can you think about a yoga style or approach you’ve tried recently. Was it something that served a reason (a specific need) or a season (a phase of exploration)?
Why do Yoga Seasons End?
Not everything is meant to last forever – and that’s healthy. A particular style or trend may open a door, shift your perspective, or meet a need, and then naturally make way or something new. But, why might a yoga season end?
Common reasons our yoga seasons end:
- practical changes (schedule, location, access)
- losing a favorite teacher or studio
- shifting goals or intentions
- changes in our bodies (age, illness, disability)
- influence of teachers, friends, or fellow yogis
- a new inspiration, teacher, or style that sparks curiosity
Journal Prompt:
Can you identify any reasons why you’ve moved on from certain practices or styles?
Understanding Trends in Yoga
A trend isn’t the same as a yoga style or lineage.
Trends are often shorter-term shifts within a yoga style that influence sequencing, language, props, or the overall rhythm or atmosphere of a yoga class.
Yoga is not fixed. Since its inception yoga has always been fluid, evolving, and responsive to broader movements in:
- wellness and fitness
- spirituality
- media
- healthcare
- cultural and social movements
Some trends disappear without leaving a mark.
Some spark the next trend.
Some are passing trends, but some add to how we practice and teach yoga.
Some lead a lasting impression, which I hope is the case with the current rise of accessible yoga, trauma sensitive yoga, and inclusive yoga.
Using the reason/season/lifetime lens can help us discern what is worth exploring and what remains central to our values as teachers.
Examples of trends many of us have seen:
- Dynamic yoga (Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Power Yoga)
- Hot yoga (Bikram, Moksha)
- Yoga-based fitness (BodyBalance, YogaFit)
- Alignment-based yoga (Anusara, Iyengar)
- Restorative or Yin Yoga
- Very structured yoga (Ashtanga) and very unstructured yoga (Kripalu)
- Equipment focused classes (restorative props, chair yoga, aerial hammocks, SUP boards)
- Yoga for special populations (yoga for seniors, kids, pregnancy, athletes)
- Yoga fusions (yoga + Pilates, yoga + dance, HIIT yoga)
Journal Prompt:
What yoga trends have you noticed or been part of?
What drives trends in yoga?
It can be interesting to examine where these trends come from and what are some of the common drivers of trends or evolutions in yoga, including:
- Cultural or fitness themes:
Heated spaces, functional movement, strength training, inclusivity, mindfulness – these ripple into yoga.
- Research (and pseudo-research):
Fascia, nervous system regulation, stretching science, trauma sensitivity – some solid, some exaggerated – still influence sequencing and language.
- Media and novelty:
Some trends relate to what’s being discussed in the media – sometimes really useful practices and innovations like accessible yoga or yoga for elite athletes, and sometimes more ‘social media friendly’ practices like goat yoga, or yoga and wine. Some trends invite people into yoga who might never have tried it – others perhaps distract from its essence
- Our human tendency towards extremes:
We often take simple, beneficial things and exaggerate them. Think about these evolutions over the past few decades – walking became power walking, napping became power napping, yoga became power yoga.
- Micro-trends within teaching:
We might think of smaller trends as micro-trends. They don’t completely reshape our practice, but they can be influential in our sequencing and teaching. I think of the years of hip-opening and heart-opening classes, or the partner yoga years, or the live music played during classes, single sided Vinyasa Flows, and of course the rise of the 60-minute “all levels” drop-in class.
These micro shifts shape how we’re currently teaching without necessarily being permanent changes.
Journal Prompt:
Which of these drivers do you think influences you most – the research, the culture, social media, novelty, or something else?
How do you decide whether a new trend is worth exploring?
What isn’t a trend for you? Your “lifetime” practices
We’ve talked about reasons and seasons, let’s now talk about what endures.
I’ll start with an example – I started my fitness journey in my teens with lunges and squats, now in my 50’s I’m still doing lunges and squats. Decades of fitness trends didn’t outlive the basics.
The same goes with yoga. 30 years ago, I was practiced breath awareness, Sun Salutations, and meditation or Savasana. No matter what trends carried me along, those practices remain.
These days, my own movement practice is gentler yoga – a new season – yet the part that remains my lifetime yoga is philosophy and ethics: examining how we think, act, speak, relate, and show up in community, and using a mindful movement practice as part of that examination.
It’s been quite nice to use this opportunity to reflect back on a yoga journey and see what has ebbed and flowed, and what has remained steady.
Journal Prompt:
What approach or style or practice of philosophy feels like it might stay with you for a lifetime?
(This could be breathwork, meditation, philosophy, specific postures, morning routine, ethics, chanting, etc.)
Discernment and Integration
Trends can make yoga feel alive and evolving, they can keep us curious and questioning and can help us to remain fresh in our teaching. However, our role as teachers is to discern: does this practice help students connect more deeply with awareness, kindness, and steadiness – or does it distract them from it?
Prompts for discussion:
- How do you balance curiosity and discernment when new practices or props appear?
- How might you introduce a new trend to students responsibly – without losing sight of yoga’s foundations?
- Are there any current trends you think are worth keeping, or revisiting?
Closing Reflection – Yoga for a Reason, Season, or Lifetime
Just like in fitness and nutrition, trends come and go with big promises to “revolutionize everything.”
But over time, in yoga, what endures is the same:
Breath.
Awareness.
Movement.
Rest.
Ethics.
The trends may shift, but the fundamentals – the roots of yoga – remain.
And as yoga continues to evolve (which is part of its beauty), we can stay curious, grounded, and open to what the next season brings.
Final Journal Prompt:
What’s one practice or principle that feels like a lifetime for you – something that has stayed constant through all the changes?
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