A Blissful Life 9/1/2026: Do Less to Feel More

I spent this past weekend immersed in yoga. Bradshaw Wish came in from Chicago to take over Ocean Bliss for a few days, teaching a class, three workshops and a Q&A.

There were a lot of things I took away from the weekend, but one phrase has continued to follow me around: Do less to feel more. Bradshaw was talking about yoga sequencing when he said it. Simplify the practice. Give people fewer things to do. Leave enough space for them to actually notice what is happening. I immediately understood what he meant.

We live in a culture that tends to celebrate more. More productivity. More information. More exercises. More poses. More accomplishments. More things squeezed into the same amount of time. Even yoga isn’t immune to it. Social media is constantly showing us another transition, another impressive posture, another creative sequence. As a teacher, I sometimes catch myself looking at all of it and wondering whether I should be doing more too.

And yet, some of the most powerful moments I have experienced in yoga have been incredibly simple. Feeling the soft breath on the edges of my nostrils when everything else is still. Feeling my body settle into ease when I shift my skeleton into alignment. Finding more strength by pressing the big mound of my foot into the mat. More than another instruction, the body needs quiet to hear the instruction it has already been given.

I think the same thing happens outside the yoga room. When something in our lives feels uncomfortable, we often immediately start doing. We make a plan. We ask the stars. We listen to a podcast. We run it by five people. We fix, adjust, analyze, and add.

There is certainly a time for action. But there is also tremendous wisdom in giving ourselves enough space to notice what is already there. Maybe we don’t always need another answer. Maybe we need a little more time with the question.

One of my favorite parts of this weekend was getting to be a student again. As a studio owner and teacher, I spend most of my time on one side of the room. I’m watching bodies, making decisions, nurturing, holding space, and thinking about what everyone else might need. It felt surprisingly good to move to the other side. To listen. To follow. To let someone else guide me.

And maybe that was part of the lesson too. I didn’t need to learn a hundred new things for the weekend to change something in me. In many ways, it simply reminded me of things I already knew: Slow down. Pay attention. Trust what you feel. Leave some space. I think I needed the reminder that more isn’t always the answer. Sometimes the work is simply staying with what’s already there long enough to understand it.

So this week, maybe notice where you’ve been adding more simply because more feels productive. What happens if you simplify instead? One less thing. One longer breath. One moment before reacting. One practice that you stay with long enough to really know. You might be surprised by how much becomes available when you stop trying to fill every space.

Come practice with us this week at Ocean Bliss. Join Narisara Vaniuchanan and the Ocean Bliss community on Thursday, September 10th at 6:30 PM for, Yoga for Love: A September 11th Tribute & Benefit – a yoga class to remember and honor those who lost their lives on September 11th. You’re invited to bring something for a shared altar – such as a photo, a flower, or anything that holds a memory. This is a donation-based class. Proceeds will be donated to Tunnel to Towers. Sign up: oceanblissyoga.net | 917-318-1168.