Last semester, in Bruce Hanington's Design Principles & Practices class, we were asked to reflect on our own experiences over the first semester and present a summary of what it means to engage in design. At the time, I was working on at least three different final projects and often stopped to tell myself "Breathe, Carlie. You got this." When it came time to develop my summary, I started thinking about all of the challenging and clarifying moments I experienced throughout the semester. I thought about the balance needed to be a good designer – and the importance of doing, thinking and reflecting on repeat. I also thought about the always-evolving state of design and the people doing it. As I was writing down these thoughts, I realized that the practice of design was not that different from my practice of yoga. Among many things, I always had to remember to breathe.

Here are 10 reasons why design is like yoga.