17 Jan My intro to Yoga!
Posted at 00:37h
in Recipes, Blog & Other Good Stuff
I came to Yoga many years ago to heal a physical injury. I ‘seemed’ to have my *&%* together but on the inside I was agitated, stressed, worried and consumed by nervous energy.
I clearly remember my first experience of yoga. I was 22, at Uni and every time I had to stand up and present, I would become seriously short of breath, could barely speak through my tightly closed throat and I would be on the loo for hours beforehand.
80% of people begin yoga for mental health reasons.
In hindsight I was literally petrified of standing up in front of others and speaking. I am pretty sure I came across as a confident, extroverted, a fun time young person but the idea of getting up in front of others and speaking was a great big fear. I acknowledge it is a fear for many.
One night I went to my mum (many of you know her as Jule) and told her of my breathing trouble. She told me to lay face down, she put her hand on my back and asked me to breath into her hand. It took a while but after a while my breath became softer, my body more relaxed and my mind began to calm.
My first experience of pranayama and the magic of yoga.
Fast forward to years later after living all over the world, travelling, working, getting some life experience, I managed to get punched during my karate practice and carried the injury back home to Australia. I tried a number of ‘therapies’ to heal that injury but nothing had any staying power until I went to a 90 minute yoga class. No only did I feel great relief from the tension in my shoulder and neck but I cried a river of tears in savasana (deep relaxation) at the end of class.
I walk out of that room feeling lighter, more at ease and pain free.
I think back to that class often and give great thanks. It has been a journey of unravelling – untying knots of tension in my physical, mental and emotional bodies, realising that one impacts on the other has been significant. Living my life on purpose means assisting in the unravelling of tensions in others – I can’t fix a life, I am no healer but I am a supporter of you, a helping hand. I can’t and won’t do it for you just as no-one could do it for me. It took courage to walk into that room years ago and it was liberating to walk back out. I had found a piece of my life journey puzzle and I had been blessed by the gift of renewed energy, clarity and calm that yoga can bring.