Seventeen Years on the Mat: The Yoga Practice That Became My Life
Reflections on healing, devotion, and the path that continues to unfold
By Joanna Barrett
Seventeen years ago, I stepped onto a yoga mat for the very first time, searching for relief from the heavy fog of depression that had settled over me after college. That first class in 2009 at the Princeton Center for Yoga & Health was not simply movement or exercise. It was a lifeline. For the first time in a long while, perhaps for the first time, I felt a quiet sense of grounding and presence return to me. Standing in Tadasana, feeling my feet rooted to the earth, I was gently reminded that I was still here. Still breathing. Still capable of healing.
Years later, I would write, “If I hadn’t stepped into my first class when I did in 2009, I am certain I would have died by suicide by summertime.” That was not poetic language. It was the truth of where I was. Seventeen years ago, I was living in the depths of suicidal ideation.
I remember the snow blanketing the ground that February day when I registered for my first class. Somewhere deep inside, I knew I would not survive long enough to feel the warmth of summer unless something shifted. Unless I intentionally chose something different – a new direction for my life. Something that could hold me when I could no longer hold myself. That something became a steady, devoted yoga practice. And, slowly, quietly, everything in my life began to change.
In 2016, I shared my transformative journey in my first published essay, “How Yoga Saved Me,” on Elephant Journal. Writing that article was a vulnerable act, exposing the depths of my despair and the hope I found through yoga. It was a declaration that healing is possible, even when it feels out of reach. To my surprise, I soon began hearing from people around the world who saw themselves reflected in my story.
Fast forward nearly a decade, and I was asked to write a blog for Chasing Red Flags. I tenderly revisited this original narrative in a new reflective piece, “Yoga Saved Me: A Reflection of Living on a Yogic Path.” This written update wasn’t just a recounting of past events; it was an acknowledgment of the ongoing journey of healing and growth. It highlighted how yoga continues to be an integral part of my life, not just as a practice but as a guiding philosophy that informs my work as a licensed mental health therapist and an emotional wellness yoga teacher.
These writings are more than personal reflections. They are living reminders of the resilience within the human spirit and of what becomes possible when we gently tend to the connection between mind, body, heart, and soul. Again and again, I have witnessed how healing unfolds when we are given the space to turn inward with compassion, honesty, and curiosity. This is why creating environments that feel steady, safe, and deeply human has become central to the work I offer in the world.
As I reflect on my life since 2009, I find myself thinking of the many individuals who have trusted me to walk alongside them in seasons of pain, transition, awakening, and growth. Each person’s path is uniquely their own, yet there is a quiet thread that connects us all: the longing to feel whole, to belong to our lives, and to remember our inherent strength. Their courage continues to reaffirm what I have come to know in my own bones, that with support, intention, and patience, meaningful transformation is not only possible, it is natural.
What I could not have understood on that first day on the mat is that the practice would one day become both an anchor and a compass.
It shaped not only how I care for myself, but how I show up for others, how I listen, how I teach, and how I hold space for healing. The mat became a place where I learned to stay, to soften, to begin again, and over time, these lessons extended far beyond the edges of that small rectangular space into the way I live my life.
Seventeen years later, I still return to the mat. Not because my life is free from challenge, but because the practice continues to teach me how to meet my life with presence, courage, and compassion.
May these stories meet you exactly where you are and remind you that healing rarely happens all at once. More often, it unfolds through small, brave choices that guide us back to ourselves. If you are moving through your own challenges and searching for steadiness, please remember that you do not have to walk that path alone. It is my deepest honor to support others through a thoughtful integration of therapy, trauma-informed yoga, and mind-body practices, helping you reconnect with your inner resilience and return to a place of calm, clarity, and wholeness.
And so, I continue to return to the mat, again and again, devoted to the practice that first showed me how to live.
You don’t have to navigate your healing journey alone. If you’re looking for compassionate support through therapy, trauma-informed yoga, or mind-body practices, I would be honored to work with you.
Read the two pieces of writing that mark this path for me:
February 16, 2026
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