An International Yoga Day reflection on sacred repetition, daily practice, and the power of beginning again
What if three Sun Salutations a day could change everything?
A great teacher once shared with me that even three simple rounds of Surya Namaskar a day can be considered a complete practice in and of itself. They move the spine in multiple directions, awaken the breath, build heat, circulate energy, strengthen and stretch the body, and perhaps most importantly, offer us a structure we can return to again and again.
Simple. Repeatable. Reliable.
And somehow, never old.
This is one of the great gifts of yoga. It does not ask us to perform. It asks us to return.
We often imagine practice as something grand: a deep ninety-minute class, a retreat, a life-changing immersion, a perfect morning routine. And yes, those moments can be powerful. Peak experiences can open something in us. They can remind us what is possible. They can give us a glimpse of our strength, our softness, our devotion, our aliveness.
But the real transformation of yoga often happens through integration.
The practice is what carries the peak experience back into ordinary life. It is what helps us embody the insight, rather than simply remember it. It is what allows the feeling we touched on the mat, in ceremony, in retreat, or in community to become something we actively live in our body, our choices, our breath, and our heart.
This is where consistency becomes sacred.
Through the small daily act of arriving. Through the quiet devotion of rolling out the mat, taking a breath, and beginning again.
In Atomic Habits, James Clear writes, “Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement.” In other words, what we repeat begins to shape who we become.
Yoga has always known this.
This is the heart of sadhana: not one perfect practice, but the devotion of returning again and again. Three Sun Salutations a day may seem small, but over time, that small practice becomes a rhythm, a refuge, and a reminder of who we are choosing to become.
Progress on the path of yoga can sometimes look, from the outside, like touching your toes, putting a foot behind your head, holding a handstand, or mastering an advanced posture.
But these external achievements are not the final destination of yoga.
We may begin with the body, but the deeper gifts are often invisible: inner peace, steadiness, resilience, self-awareness, and the ability to meet life with more presence and compassion.
The real practice shows up in how we respond instead of react. How we return to centre after being pulled away. How we soften where we once hardened. How we keep choosing presence in the middle of ordinary life.
I often compare spiritual practice to brushing your teeth. Even if you have brushed your teeth your whole life, if you stopped today, you would start to feel the consequences fairly quickly. Yoga is similar. It is not an end goal, a performance, or a box we check and complete. It is a relationship. A daily tending. A way of staying close to ourselves.
This is why Sun Salutations are so powerful.
They are both simple and profound. They connect breath with movement, strength with surrender, rhythm with presence. They invite the whole body into prayerful motion. They remind us that energy is not something we always need to force. Often, we simply need to move, breathe, and let life begin to circulate again.
Surya Namaskar literally means “salutation to the sun.” Traditionally, it is a practice of honouring the life-giving force of the sun: the light that nourishes, awakens, warms, and sustains all of life.
And then there is the number 108.
In the yogic tradition, 108 is considered a sacred number. A mala traditionally has 108 beads, used for mantra and japa meditation. In numerology, 1 + 0 + 8 becomes 9, a number often associated with completion, wholeness, and spiritual fulfilment. In many wisdom traditions connected to yoga, 108 appears again and again as a number of devotion, repetition, remembrance, and return.
There are said to be 108 Upanishads, sacred yogic and philosophical texts. In Vedic astrology, 108 can be understood through the relationship between the 12 zodiac signs and the 9 planets. Some traditions also speak of 108 energy lines converging in the heart centre.
Whether we approach the number symbolically, spiritually, or devotionally, 108 carries a sense of sacred completion.
So when we practice 108 Sun Salutations, we are not simply “doing a lot of yoga.”
We are entering a ritual.
We are moving through repetition as meditation. We are meeting our resistance, our strength, our fatigue, our joy, our breath, our mind. We are invited to experience what happens when we stop negotiating with every moment and simply continue.
Not with force. Or punishment. And not to prove anything.
But as an offering.
International Yoga Day, celebrated each year on June 21, gives us a beautiful opportunity to remember why we practice. First proposed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and adopted by the United Nations in 2014, International Yoga Day was created to honour yoga as an ancient Indian practice with profound benefits for physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being.
June 21 was chosen because it is the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, the longest day of the year and a powerful symbol of light, vitality, and renewal.
Here in Bali, we are technically honouring the winter solstice, a quieter seasonal turning inward. And somehow, that feels equally beautiful. Whether we are moving toward the longest day or the deepest night, the invitation of yoga remains the same: to listen, to return, to reconnect, and to remember the light within.
Around the world, millions of people gather on this day to honour a practice that has become a global language of breath, body, health, and inner connection.
Here at The Yoga Barn in Ubud, Bali, it feels especially meaningful. As one of the world’s beloved yoga destinations and gathering places, The Yoga Barn has become a kind of pilgrimage point for yogis from all over the world: a place to practice, learn, heal, connect, and return to the heart of yoga.
Each year, our 108 Sun Salutation practice has become a beautiful way to honour International Yoga Day in community. We gather not only to celebrate yoga, but to return to its essence.
The question is not only, “Can I complete 108 Sun Salutations?”
The deeper question is:
What practice can I truly sustain?
What is simple enough that I will actually do it?
What helps me come home to my body, my breath, my heart, and my life?
Maybe it is 108 Sun Salutations once a year.
Maybe it is three Sun Salutations every morning.
Maybe it is one conscious breath before you begin your day.
The invitation is the same: return.
Return to the body, to the breath and to the sun within.
Return to the practice that keeps you connected to what matters.
This International Yoga Day, we are honoured to gather as a community for our annual 108 Sun Salutation practice at The Yoga Barn. Guided by our incredible faculty, this practice is an invitation to move, breathe, sweat, soften, celebrate, and remember that yoga is not something we do once.
Yoga is something we live.
One breath. One movement. One salutation.
One return at a time.
- Yoga
- Sound Healing
- Vocal Activation
- Hatha
- Vinyasa
Francie Fishman, also known as Francie La Flow, is a Yoga Teacher, Vocal Activation Guide, Sound Healing facilitator, retreat leader, and founder of Pure Flow Yoga. With over 15 years of experience and more than 200 retreats and teacher trainings shared around the world, Francie creates transformational spaces for healing, expression, embodiment, and joy.
Based between Ubud, Bali and Koh Phangan, Thailand, she offers private and small group retreats, yoga classes, vocal activation journeys, sound healing, and embodied mentorship. Her work weaves movement, breath, voice, music, and somatic awareness to help people reconnect with their authentic expression and inner aliveness.
Known for her playful enthusiasm and compassionate presence, Francie’s mission is to awaken the healing power of music, voice, and embodied practice, inspiring people to express themselves fully and come home to their true nature.
