I’m often asked ‘...and what STYLE of Yoga do you teach? ‘ - to which I always reply …..’Yoga’.
Beginning my Yoga journey as a child (turning to it seriously in my teens), practicing for over 30 years, I can’t imagine my life without Yoga. Through my life Yoga has provided me with strength & flexibility, conditioning & body weight exercise, but also calmness, discipline, concentration, breath awareness and a feeling of understanding my body in a way that no other form of exercise I teach or have practiced, I believe, has the ability to do. I love its uniqueness, its diversity & the fact that it can offer fitness to you on so many levels.
Reading an article earlier today by Tao Porchon-Lynch. (She is currently the oldest Yoga teacher in the world at 100 years old and still practicing), a quote caught my eye;
‘What I love most about teaching is seeing a smile come onto someone’s face when they realise that they can do things that they thought were impossible, physically and mentally. ‘
That simple sentence sums up the whole idea of yoga to me. We are not here to perform the perfect picture pose, compete with the (often airbrushed) Instagram Yogis or social media ‘stars’. In the 30+ years I’ve been practicing I’ve seen the commercialism of yoga become massive and the competitiveness in this ‘style’ or that ‘style’ of yoga and with it this special prop, or heated room or item of gear….
In reality when Pantanjali came up with the concept over 5,000 years ago in India, none of that mattered. It was a discipline, a way of life, a personal progression to challenge & strengthen the body & the mind, through breath, focus, balance , flow & strength ( a bit of diet too and some clean living - but that bit is optional!;))
All you need is a mat, an open mind and the mantra, ‘anything is possible’ .. Start your discovery, who knows where it might lead ? … Namaste.
