Finding a practice that moves with life. Practice in Real Life: Viivi
Updated: Sep 30
Viivi is a former orchestra musician, a healthcare professional and a yoga teacher. At home, life is full with her partner and two lively boys, aged four and eight.
There are jobs, children's hobbies and all the ordinary logistics of family life. As Viivi puts it, the years they are living now are literally very busy.
And somewhere in the middle of all that, there is the practice.
When the practice changes with life
Viivi started Ashtanga about six years ago, through a beginners' course. She committed to the practice almost immediately. The depth of it made such an impression that she simply wanted to keep practising.
She found my online Mysore classes through another student. She was looking for a weekly class, and online Mysore turned out to be exactly what she needed.
In the beginning, Viivi practised six days a week. These days, life is busier and more demanding, and she has made a conscious decision to prioritise sleep rather than getting up at five every morning to practise.
The practice has learned to move with life.
She aims for at least three practices a week. One is my evening online class, while the others are usually shorter morning practices in her own yoga room at home.
There is something important in that shift: the practice hasn't become less meaningful because it has changed. It has simply become more suited to the life she is living now.
Learning to rest through practice
When Viivi is tired and overloaded, getting onto the mat isn't always easy. Sometimes she would much rather rest.
But she has learned that practice can also be a way of resting.
At other times, something unexpected happens: energy begins to rise, and that feeling itself draws her back to the mat.
In this stage of life, she also experiences calming the nervous system as essential.
The quiet presence of others
One of the things online practice makes possible for Viivi is practising with other people once a week — something that wouldn't otherwise be possible where she lives.
The group supports her own practice in a quiet but powerful way: the feeling of being connected to others who are practising, experiencing and working through many of the same things.
She describes it as a kind of wordless shared awareness — something that can be felt even through a screen.
And that was perhaps what surprised her most: how strongly the presence of other people can be felt online.
Finding the practice you need
Practising online hasn't fundamentally changed Viivi's practice, but it has helped her become more responsive to what she needs on a particular day.
She doesn't push as much as she used to. But when she feels ready to move into something uncomfortable, she can do that too.
Without physical adjustments, she has also learned to work things out more through her own body.
For Viivi, this way of practising is especially suited to anyone who values a warm sense of community and an attentive teacher who notices what is needed and responds at the right moment.
Her three words
Läsnäolevaa · inspiroivaa · ilontäyteistä
Present · inspiring · full of joy
A small reflection
Viivi's story is a reminder that a practice doesn't have to stay the same in order to stay alive.
Sometimes we practise more. Sometimes less.
Sometimes we need to challenge ourselves. Sometimes we need to rest.
And sometimes the most sustainable thing we can do is let the practice change shape along with the life around it.
Curious about practising with us?
Explore my small-group online and in-person Mysore classes.
Or, if you're looking for a longer-term container:
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