500-Day Sadhana Journey: What Daily Devotion Can Do for Your Mind and Heart
Day 500 of my sadhana practice.
Sadhana (pronounced suh-DAH-nuh)
A Sanskrit word meaning a daily self-discipline practice.
Even writing that number feels surreal. Five hundred days ago, this felt impossibly far away, like something meant for other people with more time, more discipline, more steadiness than I thought I had.
This journey began quietly, tenderly, in grief. After losing my beloved grandmother, I committed to a 40-day sadhana as a way to hold myself together, to learn how to feel without being swallowed by emotion. Twenty minutes a day. Nothing grand. Just a promise to show up. A kundalini kriya one day, yin yoga another, sometimes yoga nidra when my nervous system needed the softest landing.
Forty days turned into momentum. Momentum turned into devotion. And somehow, without forcing or fixing, it became 500 consecutive days of daily practice.
The practice itself has evolved, just as I have. Some days it’s a long, expansive kriya. Some days it’s short and gentle. I listen now. I respond instead of push. There are mornings when I practice for 90 minutes in the quiet glow of my fireplace, like today, time stretching wide and sacred. Other days my girls are climbing over me, laughing, interrupting, joining in. Life doesn’t pause for sadhana. Sadhana meets life exactly where it is.
There are days when the practice feels effortless, when I dissolve into breath and movement and forget time entirely. And there are days when every minute feels long, when my mind resists, when my body wants to quit. Both days count. Both days teach.
What I’ve learned, more than anything, is that I do have time for myself. Not someday. Not when life is calmer. Now. I’ve learned that consistency doesn’t require perfection. It requires honesty. Showing up as you are, not as you wish you were.
Through this practice, my emotional regulation has changed. Not perfectly, not permanently, but noticeably. I feel lighter. More grounded. Less reactive. I have a greater capacity to ride the waves of life instead of being pulled under by them. I can feel deeply without losing myself. I can pause, breathe, choose.
Sadhana, at its heart, is a daily spiritual or self-discipline practice. It’s not about mastering poses or achieving enlightenment. It’s about devotion to your inner world. A commitment to meet yourself every day, to tend your nervous system, your breath, your mind, your spirit. Over time, sadhana rewires patterns. It builds resilience. It teaches patience, presence, and self-trust. It creates a steady inner anchor so that when life shakes you, something inside remains rooted.
Five hundred days ago, I started this practice to survive grief. Today, I continue it to honor myself. To remember that healing isn’t linear, growth isn’t loud, and the most powerful transformations often happen quietly, one day at a time.
If you’re wondering whether you have time, whether you can stay consistent, whether it’s worth it, let this be your reminder: start small. Start honestly. Let the practice meet you where you are. You might be amazed where it carries you.
