03/09/2026
PRACTICE IN REAL LIFE — HANNELE ❤️
Meet Hannele.
She’s a mum, a grandmother, and someone whose life is very much full of things happening.
Work, studies, hobbies, family, exercise… she’s actually trying to do less these days.
And yet somehow, the calendar always seems to have plenty going on. 😊
Hannele started practising Ashtanga in 2011.
It wasn’t love at first sight, but she kept going.
And eventually, she says, she simply didn’t know how to stop.
These days, her practice looks very different from trying to fit everything in.
She practises with our online group 2–3 times a week.
And she has stopped trying to do more.
This amount keeps her connected to the practice while leaving plenty of room for all the other things that make up her life.
I love this.
Because sometimes sustainability isn’t about finding a way to fit more practice into our lives.
It’s about finding the amount of practice that allows us to stay with it.
For Hannele, practising online also means that a practice that would otherwise require a 25 km journey can happen at home, in her own yoga space.
No driving. No public transport. No negotiating over the family car.
And, importantly, morning practice is possible.
Perhaps the biggest lesson she has learned through online practice is a very simple one:
Even a little time on the mat is good for you.
You don’t have to have time for the perfect practice.
You can simply step onto the mat for the time you have.
And then there is the thing she didn’t expect.
She used to think that physical adjustments were essential to Ashtanga practice.
Now she has discovered how much can happen through verbal guidance — and how close and connected a community can feel even when everyone is practising from their own home.
When I asked Hannele to describe our practice together in three words, she chose:
Accessible. Allowing. Deep.
And when I asked what she would especially like people to know about practising online, she said:
“Ryhmä antaa harjoitteluun ryhtiä ja hyvää energiaa myös ruudun välityksellä.”
The group gives the practice structure and good energy — even through the screen.
I think that’s something worth remembering.
Sometimes the thing that helps us keep practising isn't more discipline.
It's simply making it easier to show up.
❤️
Practice in Real Life is a series where I introduce some of the women who practise with me — and the many different ways yoga can find its place in a real, busy, imperfect life.
