Calm Doesn’t Grow on Asphalt
When modern life chokes the fruits of yoga.
Reading time: 5 minutes
There’s a recurring image in the wellness world: the serene, healthy, aligned yogi. They do their practice every morning, eat organic, meditate, drink herbal tea, and breathe mindfully. They appear to have found peace.
But behind that image lies a truth few dare to speak: you can do all the “right things” and still suffer deeply.
For years, I believed yoga and clean eating would be enough to keep me well. But life kept showing me otherwise: our body, mind, and spirit cannot thrive in a hostile environment. Wellness is not just about what we do — it’s also about what surrounds us.
The Myth of Individual Wellness
Modern culture promotes a seductive idea: if you do yoga, eat healthy, meditate, and stay positive, you’ll be fine. It’s a linear, almost magical vision of healing. So when things don’t improve — when the anxiety remains, when exhaustion doesn’t lift, when burnout persists — we think we’re doing something wrong. Or not enough.
But the truth is, discipline alone can’t save us when everything around is chaos.
A person might be devoted to their sadhana, cook fresh organic meals every day, work out, keep a gratitude journal — and still collapse from stress. Because if they live in a noisy apartment, juggle demanding jobs, face financial or emotional strain, navigate toxic relationships, and can’t access peace or rest, then even the best wellness practices become one more burden to carry.
When the World Misaligns with the Practice
In the yoga world, many of us are naturally sensitive. We feel tension, noise, dissonance — not just in ourselves, but in the world. And the more sensitive we become, the more we pick up on the subtle violence of modern life: the speed, the noise, the screens, the mental clutter, the chronic stress.
Yoga opens us. But it also makes us more vulnerable to everything that isn’t aligned with peace. When the outer world doesn’t match the inner work, the practice starts to hurt — it brings awareness to all that is wrong, without giving us the tools to change it.
Living Yoga Here... and There
I’ve felt this tension most clearly between two different worlds. In France, even with deep sincerity and effort, I often feel like I’m swimming against the current. I have to explain my lifestyle, face judgmental stares, pay high prices for healthy food, and search for silence like it’s a rare treasure. The culture around me moves in the opposite direction of my values, and that creates constant exhaustion.
In India, in the Himalayan foothills, everything naturally aligns. The quiet is there. The food is simple. Slowness is allowed. I breathe easier. I think more clearly. Even my work flows more peacefully. It’s not magic — it’s coherence.
When Yoga Becomes Another Mental Load
In a misaligned world, yoga can turn into yet another pressure. We push through routines, even when we’re exhausted. We try to stay calm, even when the world is overwhelming. We force ourselves to meditate, even when our minds are saturated.
The risk is that the practice becomes a silent performance, and we end up blaming ourselves for not feeling peaceful — even when the environment makes peace nearly impossible.
It’s Not You That Needs Fixing
If you recognize yourself in this struggle, I want to say this clearly: you are not broken — the world is often simply incoherent. Our sensitivity is not a weakness — it’s a compass. And our practices deserve better than a hostile setting. They deserve to be supported, honored, protected.
Planting Another Possibility
I don’t have a miracle solution. I keep adjusting, adapting, bending, rebuilding. But one thing is clear to me: our sincere efforts deserve an environment that nurtures them. Calm doesn’t grow on asphalt — but it can sprout in the cracks, where a little light and soil remain.
Even in this harsh world, the yoga we live is a seed of a different future. By cultivating peace against all odds, we are quietly preparing the ground for a more gentle, more coherent way of living. That seed is looking for a home. It’s up to all of us to make room for it — not just for ourselves, but for each other.
