Finding Balance Across Borders: My Journey with Iyengar Yoga

From a very young age, I was inspired by my Mom, a dedicated yoga and meditation practitioner, to begin practicing yoga. Watching her steady commitment and seeing how she met life’s challenges with calmness, strength, and resilience deeply influenced me. My yoga journey began by following my Mom to different yoga classes and by being part of various yoga and meditation gatherings, communities, and friendships. When my Mom became a yoga teacher, my interest continued to grow naturally from within. Yoga was always present in my life, quietly shaping my understanding of the body, mind, and awareness.

As I explored different yoga styles, I was eventually introduced to Iyengar Yoga. After just a few classes, I realized this practice allowed me to truly connect with my body and mind in a deep and meaningful way. This marked the beginning of my personal Iyengar Yoga journey.

When I first stepped into an Iyengar Yoga class over a decade ago, I had no idea it would become the thread connecting all the places I have called home, from Iran to Sweden, and now to Vancouver.

In my experience, migration is like a deep earthquake, an emotional shaking that deeply affects the life you have built. It often means starting again from almost the very bottom. One of the strongest feelings that arises during migration is the longing for belonging and inclusion. You are placed in a new world and a new society, and you must slowly learn how to integrate into it.

The strength and resilience of the mind are essential when navigating such transitions. For me, practicing yoga and being part of a yoga community made a profound difference. Having a sense of belonging within the yoga world, a community that goes beyond where you are from, where you were born, or how you were raised, became one of the strongest supports in my migration experience.

Through two migrations, from Iran to Sweden, and later from Sweden to Canada, yoga has been my inner compass. Each asana felt like a redefinition of home, identity, and belonging. During times when everything around me felt unfamiliar, my yoga mat became my home.

At the beginning of my migration to Sweden in 2015, I was away from the Iyengar Yoga community for some time due to the many challenges I faced while trying to rebuild my life. After this period, I began the Iyengar Yoga Teacher Training and reconnected deeply with the community once again. Diving more deeply into yoga theory, philosophy, and practice became a turning point for me. This training, along with the daily practice that accompanied it, strengthened me from the inside out.

The teachings of Patanjali, especially the Eight Limbs of Yoga, became a guide not only on the mat, but also through the uncertainties of life. Being close to the Iyengar Yoga Society and studying these teachings gave me the tools I needed to build a new life with strong roots. The precision and mindfulness of Iyengar Yoga helped me rebuild inner strength and rediscover balance, not only in asana, but in life itself.

Yama helped me live in the right relationship with the world. Living the yamas, non-violence, truthfulness, moderation, and non-grasping, offered me a steady foundation during times of great change. When I left my first home in Iran, ahimsa (non-violence) taught me to meet fear and loss with compassion rather than resistance. Aparigraha (non-grasping) gently reminded me to loosen my grip on places, identities, and expectations, and to trust the unfolding of life. Through these principles, migration slowly transformed in my heart, no longer experienced only as loss, but also as expansion.

Niyama gave me self-discipline and inner strength. The niyamas guided me inward, cultivating discipline, contentment, self-reflection, and surrender. In Sweden, tapas (self-discipline) supported me in rebuilding my life and maintaining my practice through long, quiet winters. Santosha (contentment) taught me to find simplicity and gratitude in each new day, even when the path ahead felt unclear. Yoga became a mirror for self-study, helping me observe my responses to change and soften into acceptance.

Practicing asanas helped me find stability during transition. The practice of asana grounded me when everything around me felt temporary. Through Iyengar Yoga, I discovered how precision and alignment could hold both strength and softness, qualities I deeply needed beyond the mat as well. Each asana reflected life itself: finding steadiness within movement, grace within effort, and presence in every breath.

Pranayama taught me how to breathe through change and became a quiet medicine. The gentle rhythm of inhalation and exhalation softened anxiety and anchored me in the present moment. Through the breath, I learned that true stability does not come from where we are, but from how deeply we connect within.

Dhyana taught me to practice belonging to the whole. Over time, my practice shifted from doing to being. Meditation taught me that belonging is not tied to a place, but lives within awareness itself. When the mind becomes quiet, the boundaries between self and the world begin to dissolve. Whether in Iran, Sweden, or Vancouver, I carry the same stillness inside.

Moving to Vancouver felt like beginning again, but this time I was ready to rebuild my life. This time, I arrived with yoga as my anchor. The strength and balance I developed through years of practicing yoga asanas, along with beginning to teach Iyengar Yoga, have given my life a strong sense of alignment. This has made my second migration feel more stable and grounded.

Teaching and connecting with new students here, stepping into mentorship, and gaining deeper experience and knowledge of Iyengar Yoga have all helped me grow roots in this new land and culture.

Now, after migrating for the second time, yoga for me is not just about posture, it is about relationships, with ourselves, with our community, and with the world around us.

Looking back, I now see my journey across countries and cultures as a reflection of yoga’s inner path, moving from outer adjustment toward inner alignment, from effort toward ease, and from movement toward stillness.

I feel deeply grateful to the Iyengar Yoga community in Vancouver for welcoming me with openness and warmth, and for offering a space where I can grow new roots, both on the mat and in the land I now call home.

This community has made my second migration gentler and more grounded, reminding me that home can exist anywhere in the world. Yoga unites us through a shared language, a shared culture, and a shared practice, the same breath, the same asanas, and the same journey toward connection.