I just had my first baby and I felt like a bit of a stranger in my own body, I had changed and no matter how much I had prepped nothing prepares you for how different you will feel, so flooded with love and pride but also so physically exhausted, feeling like I had been in some sort of accident but still having to show up to do possibly the hardest job there is and keep a tiny baby alive. Our bodies are amazing, they hold so much information that we are unaware of - they function to keep us alive, they pay attention to our patterns and how we live our lives and adapt accordingly. I felt completely detached from my body after having a baby thats what drove me to my first yoga class.
After that first class 11 years ago I was hooked because it gave me exactly what I needed - I felt connected to me and the rest of the world did not matter for 60 mins, I paid attention to how my body was moving, I felt a sense of being present and grounded within myself, there was probably a lot of negative self talk in those early days and my ego pushing me to be/look better but ultimately it was the head space and connection it provided and of course the feeling afterwards is something special, the residue that sits in the body just after is pure magic. I remember saying to Anthony after maybe my first class "Yoga will play a big part of my life"
During my teacher training last year I dived deeper into what yoga was, I found so much joy in learning, feeling my mind expand. I feel like my knowledge has grown but the waters are deep and I literally have dipped a toe in, but we are forever learning. Yoga isn't just about what shape we can make with our bodies. Patanjali one of the authors of the Yoga sutras states that there are 8 limbs of yoga
Yama (Attitudes towards the environment around us)
Niyama (Attitudes towards ourselves)
Asana (Physical postures)
Pranayama (Breath)
Pratyahara (Withdrawal of senses)
Dharana (Concentration)
The above basically act as guidelines on how to live a meaningful life - please note that the postures are 3rd place but its a great place to start, You do not have to consider yourself spiritual to reap the benefits of Yoga - to take some time out of your day and your to do lists, to drop into your body and out of your mind will bring you peace that penetrates all areas of your life. I know after I practice I am kinder to myself and those around me.
The feeling I get from my personal practice and the feeling I get from teaching yoga are completely different but equally amazing - to hold a space and guide people back to themselves, guiding their awareness to parts of their body, asking them to engage in the pose to be there fully, we learn so much about who we are in those moments. One small example is for years I use to stop at a certain point in a seated forward fold, I knew I could go further but as in life its easy to feel the discomfort and rush passed it, ticking it off as completed but not really committing and getting the most out of the situation, this was the case in so many other scenarios in my life, yoga taught me to slow it all down, show up for myself consistently, breath and believe in myself.
Yoga has given me so much already, I feel so lucky that I have found this tool that brings balance and joy to my life and I get to share that with others. If you are even a little bit curious about yoga I think you owe it to yourself to have a go - I have never looked back and I know there is so much more to gain.
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