Come with Me on My Yoga Journey

Do you do yoga, or are you thinking of starting? Come along with me as I share my yoga journey with you.

Welcome to my new lifestyle range of blogs, where I share everything from spiritual well-being, yoga inspirations, healthy recipes and more.

I’m kicking off this new lifestyle series with yoga, sharing my seven year journey of how, when and why I started to my relationship with yoga and how it serves me today.

In the beginning, yoga was always one of those things I wanted to do physically, but wasn’t quite there spiritually. I knew it would be good for me and yet always kept it at bay. Whether that was by some divine intervention letting me know I wasn’t ready for it yet, or my stubborn attitude simply getting in the way, I will never know. What I do know is, when I did finally let go and start my journey, I have never looked back.

I often get asked by family and friends how did I start and what was it like when I started. Mostly, as so many people around me generally go to one or two classes and then never return. Often feeling as though they are either physically not cut out for it, or just too stressed and busy to even think about it.

My answer is always, yoga is not about what you think you have time for or whether you think you are ready. Yoga is about learning, self exploring your own body and discovering why you wanted to start in the first place.

And yes, if you are thinking about yoga, believe or not, you have already started on your yoga journey.

Life has become far too busy for most of us; if not all, and we seldom realise how afraid we are of slowing things down. Yoga forces us to spiritually become aware of just how fast-paced our life is and reminds us of how quickly it passes by, when you don’t take the time to really sit down and listen to the body, the earth and all that surrounds us.

Okay okay, I know that might sound a little hippy. But let’s look at the foundation and core of yoga. It’s not about being physically strong, or super skinny and all yogi like. Yoga was created as a way to reconnect the body spiritually with it’s physical sense, using breath, blood and oxygen to flow through the body and remove toxins, calm the nervous system and attach your spirit back to the earth and all that makes this planet so beautiful. Energy.

Yes, energy. Everything is made from energy, from water, land, plants to animals and humans, we are all made of energy. And, when that energy is out of balance in its natural cycle, it can lead to stress, a low immune system, bad health and even science has now proven an out of place energy flow throughout the body can lead to mental illness like Dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Of course, most of this yoga core learning came to me through learning the art over the last seven years. However, when I started yoga, this was not the reason why I wanted to start in the first place. I joined purely for health reasons. Suffering from bad anxiety and stress and dealing with sciatica and scoliosis most of my life, I was looking for a way to exercise softly to get fit and strengthen my muscles and protect my nervous system from a lifetime of stress.

But, as the years passed on and I was able to fix my stress and nervous system issues, along with managing my back issues, I also discovered that I had awakened a spiritual part of my soul I never even thought existed.

I started with high intensity yoga, moving through to average flow yoga and eventually found my spiritual connection with yin and restorative style yoga.

This journey has lead me through a wide variety of yoga styles and it took me at least two years before I could master certain poses in yoga and then around three years before I realised the best types of yoga to suit not just my physical needs, but my spiritual one as well. A concept I never knew played a huge part in securing a future in yoga.

No, I’m not a yoga teacher and my yoga journey is far from over. And there;s the key point of yoga itself. Your journey with yoga is forever evolving and the learning never stops. It’s not a physical exercise like boxing, where you start and then move onto the next latest fitness trend.

Yoga is with you for life, as you journey your way through different stages in your life, yoga will be there to help guide you through the difficult moments, the stressful moments and even the happy moments. Guiding you on your life’s journey to be the best version of yourself both physically and mentally.

So if you are thinking about starting yoga, remember, be patient, take your time and most of all, don’t worry or stress about what level those around are you at. This is about them, yoga is about you and what you will make of it.