Yoga teacher Monika Nalaskowska shares how yoga became a meaningful support for her mental health, guiding her toward softness, strength, and a deeper connection to herself—both on and off the mat.
When Structure Wasn’t Enough
I used to believe that something was wrong with me, that I was simply too sensitive for the world. I studied construction engineering, imagining that structure, logic, and discipline would create a stable life. But instead, that world drained me. The noise, pressure, and constant push felt overwhelming for someone with a highly sensitive nature. I was performing well on the outside, yet internally I was collapsing.
During that period, everything hurt, my body, my head, and something deeper I didn’t yet know how to name. That’s when yoga entered my life.
Or perhaps, when I finally became quiet enough for yoga to reach me.
Learning to Listen
When I first stepped onto the mat, I was simply looking for a sport that would challenge me while using what I thought were my strengths. I believed I was fairly strong and “not too stiff.”
Today, I smile gently at that version of myself, because I now know how tense my thinking was back then, and how truly weak and tight my spirit was. Now I know that yoga didn’t just make my body stronger. It stretched and strengthened my spirit.
At the beginning, I was fascinated by asanas. Inspired by photos online, excited by shapes I could create, thrilled by what felt easy. And then I wanted more. I fed my ego, proving to myself that I could be “better and better.” I entered a strange race, one I was running only with myself. Then pain appeared. Not a dramatic injury, but an insistent whisper that said stop. Pain became a messenger, a sign that I had gone too far that day. But I wasn’t listening yet. I thought I knew better.
That period taught me tenderness. When I look back, I mentally embrace that younger version of myself and forgive her for pushing so hard.
There was a moment, a quiet but powerful turning point, when I realised that real yoga begins off the mat. That the dynamic meditation of movement was not the goal, but a doorway.
My outer life mirrored the turmoil. A toxic relationship, an unfulfilling job, and a silent permission for others to treat me the way I treated myself.
It was yoga that gave me strength, or rather, the space to find the strength that was already within me.
Slowly, I learned that everything I was searching for “out there” had been inside me all along. I am whole. I am enough.
Strength that was Already There
Even though I left engineering, parts of it continue to shape me, and now I see them as gifts. Understanding structure, balance, and mechanics informs how I teach. Yoga taught my analytical mind humility and balance. It softened the rigidity I once carried. But it also taught me something engineering never could.
No two bodies are the same.
No two days are the same.
No inner landscape can ever be measured with a ruler.
In my classes, I don’t want students to perform poses. I want them to experience themselves. I offer variations, space, and permission to do less. One of the most healing lessons yoga gave me, and one I try to share, is this:
You don’t have to prove anything to be worthy. Not to the world. Not to others. Not even to yourself.
Soft Strength Vinyasa Flow: A Gentle Yoga Practice for Emotional Balance
A slow, gentle vinyasa flow designed to balance your nervous system, soften tension, and reconnect you with the quiet strength within. This class moves through mindful transitions and breath led cues that support emotional clarity and embodied presence.
Perfect for days when life feels loud and you need to come home to yourself. Whether you need to drop a knee, use a block, or slow down, everything is welcome.
Flows like this supported me through long winters, moments of heaviness, and emotional fog. I hope this one supports you too.
Gentle Tools for Mental Wellbeing
If you are navigating anxiety, emotional exhaustion, or overwhelm, here are a few gentle tools that helped me:
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Child’s Pose with long exhales to calm your nervous system
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Slow, repeated flows of breath to quiet mental noise
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Supported shapes using props to remind your body what safety feels like
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Permission to do less because stillness can be the bravest choice of all
There is no final destination.
Only presence.
A Place to Land
Yoga didn’t fix me, but it gave me a place to land. Again and again.
It taught me that softness is not weakness, and that the strength I spent years chasing was already inside me.
Thanks to yoga, I learned to observe myself with patience and compassion, and to return, over and over, to what truly matters.
Yoga gives me the chance to step away from a screaming world and finally hear my own inner voice, to notice what truly matters, even when it can’t be measured.
Today, I teach yoga not to show others how to stretch, but to help them remember that they, too, can come home to themselves.
Gently. Honestly. Courageously.
Just like I did.
