Have you noticed how often the word *sustainability* shows up lately?

It’s everywhere.

It's in our conversations about work, health, creativity. Even care.

It’s become a kind of cultural shorthand, a value we all seem to agree on… even if we’re not always sure what we’re agreeing to??

For me, the word still brings up the images of reusable bags, bamboo straws and glass containers. All of them {as you guessed} living in my kitchen. Lol.

But when sustainability starts describing something less tangible, like a yoga practice, things get a little fuzzier.

Because what does it actually mean to sustain a yoga practice?

And maybe the more important question: What is the practice being asked to sustain?

On the surface, sustainability sounds simple. Almost obvious.

But when we don’t question it, it can quietly turn into a set of expectations:
Do more.
Do better.
Do not stop.

For me, sustainability in yoga becomes much more *tangible* when stripped back to something relational.

It’s what I can return to, again and again, over time, without depleting the very energy required to stay in relationship with it.

That’s it.

Sustainability isn’t intensity.
It’s not endurance.
And it’s definitely not the ability to override feedback.

It’s the opposite of cycles that demand everything upfront and offer very little in return.

Which is why people eventually give up on things that aren’t sustainably designed; in work, in care, and yes, in yoga practice.

Not because they lack commitment.
But because the conditions make it hard to keep going.

So I went digging.

A 2025 scoping review looked at the long game of yoga. Researchers screened 2,270 studies and only included the ones that actually measured long-term practice; 65 studies involving adults with more than 1 year of consistent yoga-based practice.

And the pattern held its ground.

→ long-term yoga was linked to measurable changes in the brain areas tied to emotion regulation, interoception {body awareness}, sensorimotor control, and executive function​
→ physiologically, a lot of studies showed shifts toward parasympathetic-driven regulation {think: recovery, repair and coming out of "always on alert" state}
→ psychologically, long-term practitioners tended to report lower negative affect and less emotional reactivity​
→ and when the review looked at longer interventions {including a 5-year randomized study}, the people who got the strongest results weren’t the “most talented”

… they were the ones with higher attendance + self-practice. {Translation: Consistency pays. Predictably.}

This is where the conversation about sustainability in yoga gets interesting.

Because yoga isn’t just something we do. It’s a way we design conditions for change in the body over time.

And that design matters. But when people stop practicing, it’s rarely about commitment.

More often, it’s about energy.

Every practice costs you something.

• Physical effort.

• Attention.

• Time.

• Emotional bandwidth.

And as far as pure calorie perspective, yoga is…

unimpressive.

Most styles land around 2–3 calories per minute. Even flow-based classes tend to burn ~50–80 fewer calories per hour than cardio matched for heart rate (Hagins et al., 2007; Ainsworth et al., Compendium of Physical Activities).

And yet; long-term outcomes consistently tell a different tale.

Despite burning fewer calories per session, changes with regular yoga practice are subtle but consequential: less strain on your system, greater capacity to recovery, and progress that doesn’t require chronic vigilance. (Gohel et al., 2021; Campelo et al., 2025). ​

Sustainability here really comes down to one thing: whether the cost of the practice actually makes sense to YOU.

^^^ Especially in midlife, when the body becomes less tolerant of being treated like an abstract idea, the feedback gets clearer, faster, and harder to ignore.

What actually changes the nervous system isn’t variety. It’s doing the right things, often enough, in a way your body can handle.

When a yoga practice regularly leaves you drained, sore, or low-key resistant to coming back, that’s not a willpower issue.

It’s a signal that the conditions are off.

Time introduces another layer.

Time isn’t just something we “make.”
It’s something we invest.

And like any investment, the real question isn’t how much you put in. It’s whether anything builds over time.

This is where a lot of yoga practice breaks down.

Not because people don’t show up. But because the structure doesn’t give the body anywhere to store what it’s learning.
* There’s movement, sure.
** But very little memory.
*** Very little carry-over.

Without repetition, the nervous system doesn’t adapt.
Without progression, strength doesn’t consolidate.

So time gets spent… and nothing really takes root.

Sustainability, then, isn’t about doing more.

It’s about finding a practice where your time actually goes somewhere.
Where each time you show up, it builds on the last.
Where effort creates familiarity and confidence, not the feeling that you’re starting over every single time.

And then there’s emotional energy {the most subtle, and often the most decisive resource of all}.

Every yoga practice carries a tone.

Some feel invitational.
Others evaluate.

Some invite curiosity.
Others quietly reinforce a sense of not being *enough*

Over time, that tone matters.

A yoga practice that repeatedly positions you as *behind* your younger self, behind an idealized pose, behind an imagined norm.....

slowly weakens the desire to return. Yet, sustainability asks for discernment.

Because, when physical capacity, time, and emotional load are taken into account, something SHIFTS. Consistency stops being a personal virtue, and instead it becomes a byproduct of good conditions.

SO...

If you are unable to stick with yoga practice, instead of asking;
“Why can’t I commit?”

Ask: “What is this practice asking of ME, and what is it giving back?”

That question changes the terrain.

Because sustainability, at its core, isn’t about discipline.

It’s about whether a practice can be lived with… and over time.

Reference: Campelo, G., Ramos de Araújo, J., Aristizabal, J. P., de Souza, W., & Mendonça de Castilho, G. (2025). Long-term effects of yoga-based practices on neural, cognitive, psychological, and physiological outcomes in adults: A scoping review and evidence map.