From Soreness to Stillness Through the Healing Power of Yoga
Carmela is an internationally recognised yoga educator and movement specialist with over 25 years of experience. She is the founder of Yoga Rhyth’OM and leads teacher trainings, retreats, and wellness programs that blend traditional wisdom with modern science.
I still remember my very first yoga class. I walked into an Ashtanga Vinyasa class expecting it to be relatively easy. I was a runner, a gym enthusiast, and I was supposedly fit and strong. I was mistaken! The next day, I could barely walk. Every muscle ached in a way I had never experienced before. It wasn’t just physical soreness, it felt as though something deeper had been stirred, something I didn’t yet have the language for. Yet, beneath the discomfort, there was curiosity.
That single class sparked something within me. I enrolled in a yoga course soon after, and from the moment I stepped into that space, there was a quiet sense of familiarity, as though I had returned to something I already knew but had long forgotten. That was in 1996.
Not long after, I found myself waking at 5 a.m. each morning to practise. What began as curiosity evolved into commitment, not driven by discipline alone, but by an inner pull that felt undeniable. I haven’t stopped since.
In 2000, I enrolled in yoga teacher training. I remember sitting as a student in one of the early sessions, guided into a simple seated meditation. The instruction was clear and uncomplicated, “Be the observer of your thoughts.”
In that moment, something shifted. It wasn’t intellectual. It wasn’t something to analyse or figure out. It was an experience, immediate and undeniable.
For the first time, I saw clearly that I was not my thoughts. Not my emotions. Not the constant stream of narratives moving through my mind. Until then, I had been completely entangled in them, identified with every thought, reacting to every feeling, consumed by the noise. Suddenly, there was space.
What yoga really is
Many people come to yoga through the body. We stretch, strengthen, and move. While these physical aspects are valuable, they are only the beginning.
If we stay with the practice long enough, yoga begins to reveal itself as something far more profound. The sage Patañjali defines yoga in the Yoga Sutras as, “Yogaḥ citta vṛtti nirodhaḥ.” Yoga is the stilling of the fluctuations of the mind. Yoga Sutra 1.2.
This is not about suppressing thought or emptying the mind entirely. Rather, it is about cultivating the ability to witness without becoming entangled, to observe the movements of the mind without being carried away by them. It is the shift from being within the storm to observing it.
From identification to awareness
Before yoga, I was unaware of how deeply conditioned my responses were. A thought would arise, and I would believe it. An emotion would surface, and I would become it. There was no space between experience and identity.
Through breath, movement, and stillness, I began to cultivate awareness and with awareness came choice. Instead of reacting unconsciously, I could begin to respond with intention. Instead of being consumed, I could observe.
The purpose of yoga is not to control but to understand. It is the gradual unwinding of the patterns that bind us and the steady cultivation of a more conscious way of being.
The body as a gateway
For many, the body is the entry point into practice, and it is a powerful one. The body carries memory. It holds tension, habit, and history. When we move with awareness, we begin to access and release what has been unconsciously stored.
For the first few years of my practice, I cried, a lot! It was as though layers of myself were slowly being stripped away. In yoga, these layers are spoken of as the koshas, the sheaths that cover our deepest essence. The tools of yoga became a profound process of peeling back the layers of conditioning, protection, identity, and emotion that I had carried for years.
Each posture becomes an opportunity for inquiry, "Where am I holding? Where am I forcing? Where can I soften?"
Transformation does not arise from posture itself, but from the quality of awareness we bring to it.
The breath as a bridge to presence
The breath is one of the most accessible and profound tools within the practice. It exists at the intersection of the conscious and unconscious, both voluntary and involuntary. Through the breath, we gain access to the nervous system, influencing our internal state in real time.
The breath is referred to as prāṇa, the vital life force. When prāṇa flows freely, there is clarity, vitality, and ease. When it is restricted, we feel the effects across the body, mind, and emotions.
By returning to the breath, again and again, we create a pathway back to presence.
Yoga as a way of living
Over time, yoga begins to extend beyond the mat. It reveals itself not only in how we practise, but in how we live, in how we respond under pressure, in how we speak to ourselves, in how we relate to others, and in how we sit in stillness.
This is where yoga becomes sadhana, a committed, lifelong path of self-inquiry. And it is not always comfortable.
Yoga has a way of uncovering what has been hidden. It brings to light the patterns we might prefer to avoid. It asks us to remain present when we want to run away and hide. Yet within that process lies its power.
A return to wholeness
At its essence, yoga is not about becoming something new. It is about remembering what has always been there.
A lifelong practice
It has now been three decades since that first class. My practice has evolved through many phases, shaped by different seasons of life. It has softened, deepened, and, at times, challenged me in ways I could not have anticipated. But the essence remains unchanged.
Each day, I return, not to be perfect, but to meet myself as I am. Some days feel expansive. Others feel heavy. Some feel clear, others feel uncertain. Yet all of it is part of the practice.
Closing reflection
Yoga is not defined by flexibility or physical ability. It is defined by the willingness to see, to observe the patterns of the mind, to recognise the impulses that drive behaviour, and to become aware of the chaos inside and out.
Then, gently, to step back. To become the observer. Because it is within that space, between thought and awareness, between reaction and response, that something essential reveals itself. Not something we need to acquire, but something that has always been within us, something unchanging and unwavering, the true Self.
Read more from Carmela Lacey
Carmela Lacey, Yoga Teacher, Movement Educator, Wellness Advocate
Carmela is a highly regarded yoga and movement educator with over 25 years of teaching experience. As the founder of Yoga Rhyth’OM, she combines traditional yogic philosophy with modern movement science to create transformative experiences for her students. Her work spans yoga teacher trainings, women's wellness retreats, and educational programs/classes focused on functional movement, breathwork, and cyclical living. Known for her grounded wisdom and heartfelt teaching style, Carmela empowers others to move with awareness, age with grace, and live in rhythm with nature. Learn more about her offerings and articles through her Brainz profile.
