About YogaYami
YogaYami is your personal guide to an active and mindfully green life.
We are convinced that yoga, mindfulness, and sustainable lifestyle choices are potent tools for creating positive change both within individual consciousness and without society as a whole.
“As within, so without”
By learning to love and take care of our own body and soul, we open up to deeper relationships with those around us and re-establish the lost connection with all living beings and our planet.
From simply learning to listen to our bodies to choosing more eco-friendly and ethical products, it is the collection of small personal transformations that eventually create a big impact.
Never Done Yoga Before?
No sweat! We all have to start somewhere.
You may want to check out our introductory guides to yoga and yoga equipment. Just click on the images below:
A Word About Affiliates
Some of the articles may contain affiliate links to the products. If you click through and make a purchase on some of the websites we link to, YogaYami will receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. Rest assured, we only recommend the products we’re sure of and which will be useful to you.
Who’s Behind YogaYami.com?
Hi there! I’m Laura.
And I’m the girl behind YogaYami.com.
My first encounter with yoga took place more than five years ago. And I do not exaggerate when I say that it was love at first asana. For the first time in my 20s I left the studio feeling strong and powerful – one of the best emotions a girl can experience.
I was a full-blown recipe for disaster at the time. Bouncing back and forth in an abusive relationship that I couldn’t end (because no one will love me again), depressed (because life didn’t make any sense), anxious and struggling with poor self-esteem (because I wasn’t slim/pretty/girly enough).
In an attempt to whittle my waist (because every girl needs one), I strained my body with crunches and twists.
And let me get this straight, it was no fun. Literally every time I had to force myself to work out. I felt no progress and saw zero results. Little did I know that blocky waistline can’t be changed and, in fact, is totally fine.
I put myself under so much pressure to fit a specific image the society has created that in return, I earned a nagging back pain that made my gym and home exercise routine impossible to follow.
So here I was. Miserable, empty, with uncontrollable eating habits, and an ugly blocky waistline. Struggling to get out of bed every morning.
By virtue of destiny, I got dragged out of my apartment by my friend’s mother who was a Pilates instructor. My back got better, which alas couldn’t be said about my depression and self-esteem.
I felt like there’s still something lacking in my life. While Pilates made exercise pleasurable, it didn’t really cater to my mental needs.
My instructor mentioned that Pilates often overlaps with yoga, though the latter has a stronger focus on mindfulness. I thought to myself “maybe this is what I’ve been looking for for this whole time.”
My first research awoke a wave of skepticism in me. Yoga seemed like a hoax. Media presented it as a panacea, a universal cure from broken heart, body pains and even aging. I spend several evenings hunching over my laptop reading about what real ‘hard’ science had to say about the health benefits of the practice.
Having analyzed over 40 studies, it turned out that there was indeed something going on with the human body after a yoga class: hormonal changes, better pain responses and decreased sympathetic activity (the ‘fight and flight’ response that makes you sweat, your heart beat faster and tremble with or without obvious threat).
This hard evidence (along with my arousing anxiety and stress without reason) has given me a big push to walk into a yoga class for the first time.
Instantly, I realized – this is me. The first breathing pranayama, blood rush from Sun Salutations and surrender in Corpse Pose Savasana. My mind was scattered, breathing was uneven, and my muscles were too weak. But we all have to start somewhere, haven’t we?
There was a long journey ahead. A journey towards self-acceptance, self-love, and self-assurance. It took some time to regain the strength and re-light the fire that burned deep inside of me all this time.
I finally tapped into my wild side and did things I didn’t dare to do before: got out of the destructive relationship, quit the dead-end job I hated, celebrated my body, took a change towards a healthy and sustainable lifestyle, and met the love of my life.
My husband made me realize what a game-changer that first step into the yoga studio was. He once told me that the moment he saw me, he was amazed at the confidence, strength, and radiance I projected. This thought makes me smile up until now. Because I still remember that withdrawn, depressed, and ailing self and a fairy-tale-ish transformation. The transformation for which I will be forever grateful to yoga.
YogaYami is my attempt to inspire you to find your inner fire. To find the strength to face daily challenges with grace and a smile (or an assuring ‘No’), to look how you want and not how’s expected of you, and to live the life you deserve.
I don’t have all the answers and still have so much to learn. But whether you’re struggling with the aching body or the aching mind, I’m happy to share what I’ve learned along the way.