28 Feb Why I’m passionate about yoga

Like many of my passions,  my third passion yoga, came into my life right when it was supposed to and just when it was needed most.  Which is to say just before I came to the realisation that I am prone to over thinking and I lean seriously towards being a stress head.

It was the early 2000’s and I was working long hours, exercising, studying and stressed out, I needed to slow down.  A GP suggested yoga and in an old Queenslander in Paddington I found my karma.  For an hour and a half my mind switched off, my body stretched and my muscles and bones strengthened. I went home relaxed with a clear and calm head and slept like a baby. I was hooked.

I became passionate about yoga.  For someone like me who has such a crazy, over-active, over thinking brain it was amazing to me that each week such a simple thing could bring such dramatic effects.  Week in, week out the classes made me calmer, more focussed and I slept better.  Yoga made me concentrate on the posture instruction and the breathing information, not how I was going to solve world peace.  It forced me to slow down. It was brilliant.

Yoga must have had my number, because not longer after I started yoga, I realised that I am an over thinker and stress head, who when the conditions are right can tip over the edge into anxiety.  I really fell into a heap.  I quit work, changed jobs and was a scaredy pants, seriously anxious about everything, kind of person.  It was hard to focus on anything when I was constantly worried about everything!  My perspective was totally off.  It felt like the sky was falling and I was never going to catch it.

So I made a conscious effort, no matter how busy I was at work or what was going on in my life, to get to class.  It wasn’t always easy to be there.  Sometimes my mind and body just didn’t want to be there on the mat.  Other times weird things happened like I’d start smiling uncontrollably or I’d get angry or frustrated.  On one or two occasions, much to my surprise, tears squeezed their way out of my eyes.  Sounds naff I know but it turns out Yoga can stir up our body energy and undealt with emotions.  With yoga you can acknowledge those emotions and let them go and get back to focussing on the present.

And focussing on the present wasn’t something I was great at.  Why live in the here and now when you can worry about what happened last month, or where you might be living next year! So I used yoga and exercise to work through what felt like my world was caving in and to realise that of course it wasn’t and this too would pass.  By concentrating on these passions it gave my brain a break. A break from negative nelly who had taken up residence in my head.  I did my yoga, exercise, research and reached out to family and friends until my voice was louder than negative nelly’s.

By this stage, my loud, and sometimes very direct (read blunt) voice, was telling me, you love yoga, it’s one of your passions, why not share the benefits with others? Why not teach? And so I did.  I became a qualified instructor through Byron Yoga. I taught in Tieri, populations 2000, up until I was about six months pregnant with Ruben.  Then sleep deprivation, life and new challenges took me away from teaching but I kept practised at home.

Now I still practice at home using my collection of yoga books, dvds, notes, magazine and online classes.   I practice yoga sometimes everyday but definitely every week.  Like exercise, I’ve realised it doesn’t have to be in big volumes sometimes it’s can be just two or three sun salutes. I go to yoga class once a week.  Those two things, home practice and a once a week class have also made a big difference to my body shape and tone. When I’m on holidays away from CQ and in the big smoke I get to as many classes as I can.  Getting to classes really gives me a buzz and the motivation and inspiration to keep going when I’m back at home on my own.

I’ve been to hot and hatha classes in Scarborough, Sandgate, Everton Park, Noosa, Surry Hills, Otford, Toronto, Bali, Byron Bay, Mudgee, Moranbah, Paddington, West End and
Kingscliffe.  Classes like those at Paige’s Yoga Emporium in Scarborough, QLD.  A little studio of zen with polished wood floors, soothing music, sensational teacher, all the props you need and people who love yoga.

One day, I would love to have my own home yoga business, just like Paige’s, where I could teach pregnancy, parents and kids and everyday yoga, maybe even run a yoga retreat. But starting small, this year, I’ve started teaching again.

I’m passionate about yoga because it calms me down if I turn into an anxious, stressed, scaredy pants and it is a centring, balancing force when I’m not. I sleep better, I think better, I focus better.   It would be great if people read this and yoga came into their life right when it’s supposed to and just when they need it most!

Five reasons to be passionate about Yoga

1. Yoga slows you down and forces you to concentrate on postures and breathing not being an anxious stress head.
2. Yoga helps you to stress less, relax, slow your breathing and focus on the present
3. Yoga helps you to sleep better and let go of negative emotions
4. Yoga improves your muscle tone, strength, joint health and flexibility
5. Yoga gets your blood flowing, your blood sugar and bad cholesterol levels dow