International Yoga Day 2026: How A Five-Minute Ritual With Stillness Strengthened A Mother-Daughter Bond
Last Updated:
Bengaluru mother Priyah overcomes anxiety and built a daily yoga ritual with her daughter, strengthening their bond and emotional wellbeing.
Sometimes it is a simple guided practice they have come to cherish. Whatever form it takes, it is now a non-negotiable part of their day. (Image: Isha Foundation)
Every evening, sometime around sunset, Khiyara reminds her mother of something important. “Mama, we haven’t done it yet.” Sometimes it is a few minutes of quiet sitting. Sometimes it is a simple guided practice they have come to cherish. Whatever form it takes, it is now a non-negotiable part of their day.
For Khiyara, a ten year old Bengaluru student who loves art, dance, and tennis, these moments are about simple togetherness. For Priyah, they mark a return to herself and to her daughter. Their story reflects a challenge many parents face today: staying truly present while juggling constant mental noise.
For years, Priyah appeared to have much of what many aspire to. A model, actor, content creator and Mrs India – Empress of the Nation 2018 (2nd Runner-Up), she built a successful career and a growing public profile, working with several international and regional brands. Yet behind the scenes, she was battling anxiety, self-doubt and a constant sense of mental clutter.
“I started doubting myself. I became my own worst critic,” she recalls. “Everything was happening in my head. I would think endlessly before making even simple decisions.”
The struggle eventually spilled into her personal life. “I thought I was spending time with my daughter, but I was constantly on my phone,” she says. “Even when someone was talking to me, the noise in my head was much louder than what was happening around me.”
Like many modern parents, she was physically present but emotionally stretched thin. “I wanted peace. I wanted quietness,” she says. “Everything felt loud.” What concerned her most was the impact this might have on her daughter.
“I was hurting,” she says candidly. “And I worried that if I didn’t address it, I might end up hurting her too.” The turning point came when Priyah became involved with the Conscious Planet movement and later connected with volunteers from Isha Foundation in Oman. Encouraged by what she experienced, she enrolled in Inner Engineering, a programme that introduces participants to simple yet powerful yogic tools for inner wellbeing.
The transformation, she says, was neither dramatic nor instantaneous. “It wasn’t an overnight miracle,” she says. “It was a process. Like brushing your teeth every day. You do it consistently, and over time something changes.”
What changed most was not her career or circumstances, but the way she experienced them. “The way I look at situations today is completely different,” she says. “I have more clarity. I know my priorities.”
And at the top of those priorities was her daughter. “I realised I needed to be happy if I wanted to give her happiness,” she says. “I needed to have love for myself to give her love. I needed peace within myself if I wanted to guide her.”
The difference was soon visible at home. Instead of rushing through conversations, she found herself listening. Instead of multitasking through family time, she became fully present. Instead of feeling depleted, she had the energy to engage.
“We are best friends now,” Priyah says, laughing. “I connect with her not just as a mother, but as someone who can meet her at her level.” The pair dance together on their terrace, play tennis rallies that can stretch for hours, and go for long walks without phones.
For Khiyara, the shift was impossible to miss. “Mama is able to spend time with me,” she says. “When she takes me around, she is not constantly on the phone.”
Perhaps the most remarkable part of their story is that no one asked Khiyara to take up yoga.
She simply watched. “One thing I learned is that you cannot preach to children,” Priyah says. “Children observe and learn.”
One day, while Priyah sat down for her daily practice, Khiyara asked if she could join. “We did it together,” Priyah recalls. “Afterwards she said, ‘I feel so good.’”
That simple moment became the beginning of a shared ritual.
Today, it is often Khiyara who reminds her mother if they happen to miss their usual time. And the benefits, she says, show up in unexpected ways. “If I’m angry about something at school and I start doing yoga, I feel much better,” she says. “I don’t think about it anymore.”
She remembers feeling upset with a classmate who had repeatedly caused trouble in school. Carrying that frustration throughout the day, she found herself unable to let it go. “Then I started meditation,” she says. “I felt calm and peaceful again.”
For Priyah, moments like these reinforce something she has come to believe strongly: that emotional wellbeing should be nurtured as consciously as academic performance. Children today, she says, are growing up amid unprecedented levels of stimulation and distraction.
“Not everything on social media is real, and not everything is productive,” she says. “If children are going to navigate this world well, they need some way of finding balance within themselves.” Yet she believes the responsibility begins with parents.
“If you want your child to learn something in life, it’s not going to come from your advice,” she says. “It’s going to come from seeing you.”
For many, yoga is still associated primarily with physical postures and flexibility. But Priyah and Khiyara’s experience points to another dimension of yoga – its ability to shape relationships, emotional resilience and the quality of our everyday lives.
Loneliness, anxiety and digital overload are becoming common experiences across generations and this is where yoga becomes so relevant because it offers not just physical fitness, but presence.
Presence with ourselves, presence with our children, presence with life.
As Priyah reflects on her journey, her message to other parents is simple. “Start now,” she says. “Don’t wait and regret that you didn’t begin ten years ago. Even if it’s just five minutes. Go for a walk with your child without your phone. Sit together, connect with nature, connect with them and everything else will fall into place.”
And every evening, somewhere in Bengaluru, a ten-year-old ensures that promise is kept. “Mama,” Khiyara reminds her. “We haven’t done it yet.”
About the Author
Our life needs a bit of style to get the perfect zing in the daily routine. News18 Lifestyle is one-stop destination for everything you need to know about the world of fashion, food, health, travel, r…Read More
