Staying Present – My Biggest Lesson from Yoga Coaching

In my yoga coaching sessions, the same theme keeps coming up: we get stuck in the past. We overthink, replay situations in our heads, wondering what we should have done differently and then we fall into a negative spiral. I know this feeling all too well – that “what if…” or “if only I had…” thinking.
But life doesn’t happen in the past. It also doesn’t happen in the future. Life happens now – in this very moment. And that’s the essence of yoga (and also of many other approaches I’ve come across): presence.
Energy is something precious. When we waste it on thoughts about what has already happened – or on things that may never happen – we lose the energy we could use to fully live in the present.
One realization that still fascinates me: our body reacts immediately to what we give it. “Fake it until you make it” – yes, that’s scientifically proven. When I look in the mirror in the morning and choose to smile, something shifts instantly. Not only does my face look more positive – my inner state changes as well. The smile doesn’t just lift the corners of my mouth, it lifts my mood.
The same works when I put myself into a situation. For example, before an important meeting or interview: instead of letting nerves take over, I imagine how someone I admire would handle it. How would my best friend – who I see as calm, professional and confident – approach this conversation? Just that perspective shift gives me a completely different energy.
And there’s another truth that has become very important to me: we cannot control what negative things happen to us. But we can control how we respond. With a stoic, pragmatic attitude: “I can’t change this. But I can choose how I deal with it.”
For me, that’s where real freedom lies. Not in trying to control everything – but in knowing that my reaction makes the difference.
This, for me, is the core of what yoga has taught me and what I keep sharing with my clients: presence in the here and now. The conscious choice for the positive. And the ability to let go of what we cannot change.

---