From Jane Goodall to Yoga: The Power of Observation

A reflection on curiosity, embodied knowledge, and the practice of noticing

This piece explores a theme central to my teaching: observation.Not observation as analysis or performance, but as a quiet, patient attention, the kind that allows understanding to emerge through experience.

Hello,

This week, the world said goodbye to Jane Goodall, a true scientist who followed the call of her heart. Just last week, while watching a documentary with my kids, I was telling them about her remarkable work.

The film we saw was The Shark Whisperer on Netflix, featuring Ocean Ramsey, a young woman from Hawaii who has dedicated her life to understanding sharks. Some say she is just chasing fame, and she is not a scientist in the academic sense. But as I watched, I couldn’t help comparing her to Jane Goodall. Her patience, her observation skills, her ability to connect with sharks, and her tireless advocacy for their protection reminded me so much of Goodall’s approach.

And it made me reflect: science is vital, but it hasn’t always caught up with human experience. Sometimes, before the data and the studies, there is simply curiosity, openness, and attention. That is where discovery begins.

I once read a meditation book that said: you become the scientist of your own mind. You study your breath, you observe your thoughts and your body. In yoga, class after class, you notice without judgment. Some days you feel different, some days you discover something new—you gather knowledge through your own experience.

This reminded me of a time in my twenties when I spent a month on the Pacific coast of Mexico, volunteering with a conservation group to protect sea turtles. Most of our work happened at night, under the stars, as we waited for the turtles to come ashore and lay their eggs. Then we would carefully collect them before predators arrived. I still treasure those nights, watching the sky, learning the rhythms of the turtles. For a while, I became a small “scientist” of the sand, the sea, and the stars.

Yoga invites us into that same role: to observe, to stay curious, to learn from what is right in front of us. It’s a gentle but powerful practice of discovery, of becoming the scientist of your own body and mind.

If you’d like to step into that role, join me in class this week. Together, we’ll practice noticing, learning, and growing, one breath at a time.

Join me this week in class to explore that same curiosity, becoming the scientist of your own body and mind, one breath at a time.

In my classes, observation is not about doing better or going further.It is about learning to pay attention, patiently, honestly, and letting understanding arise from lived experience.

See you in class, With warmth, Hélène