Every wave returns to stillness.
Setting up to lead an online practice from home.
Every class has a supervisor, sometimes two!
About your teacher
Hi, I'm Maryam
I came to yoga for the flexibility and stayed for the stillness, which took a lot longer to learn. That slower part is what I teach now: unhurried, clear, nothing to perform. Even in the stronger classes, there's no goal to reach. Move at your own pace. You don't need to be flexible, experienced, or calm to start.
Why Darya?
Darya means "sea" in Persian. The sea is a good picture of what a practice actually looks like over time. Some days you come to the mat on a rising tide, full of energy, wanting to move. Other days the water has gone out and there is very little there. Neither one is the sea failing at being the sea. It is the same water, doing what water does.
The yoga sutras put it as sthira sukham asanam (स्थिरसुखमासनम्), steady and at ease. It is easy to hear those as two instructions to alternate between: push hard today, rest tomorrow. On the mat they turn out to arrive together. In a long hold you are working to stay and letting go of everything you do not need, in the same breath. A wave does not choose between rising and falling. What lifts it is what sets it back down.
That is what a practice is for. Not a way to hold the water still, but something steady to stand in while it moves. It meets you on the strong days and the quiet ones, on and off the mat, and that is where the name comes from.
A note on practising online: Always listen to your body first. If something I say doesn't feel right for you, please don't do it. Move at a pace that suits you, skip anything that doesn't serve you, and rest whenever you want to.
D · A · R · Y · A Y · O · G · A
New to Insight Timer?
Where I teach …
Insight Timer is a free meditation app, and it's where I teach. You don't need a subscription to practise with me. A free account gives you the whole library of guided meditations, talks, and music, plus live sessions running around the clock that you can drop into and ask questions in.
Download the app, search for Maryam Darya, and tap Follow. You'll get a notification whenever I go live or post something new.
Come as you are today
Some days move. Some days rest.
Not every day asks for the same thing. On Insight Timer you'll find short guided meditations for when you only have ten minutes, Yoga Nidra for sleep and deep rest, and full yoga classes across Vinyasa, Hatha, and Yin. Some days you want to move and build heat. Some days you want to lie down and let the practice do the work. Both are there, free to stream, whenever you need them.
