Yoga can increase flexibility but yoga really is for the willing. You have to be willing to let go of what you expect from yoga and let it guide you - it has guided me to balanced well-being.
Yoga for me is about balanced well-being -
a balance of physical, mental, emotional and grounded spiritual well-being.
When I first came to yoga it was more about the physical as I had a bad back and just wanted it to feel better, yoga was suggested and within a couple of sessions I started to notice the difference and my passion for yoga was born. Firstly, yes the physical as a practice but it didn't take long before the mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of yoga started to impact my life. Over the years the dynamics of my yoga practice has changed and evolved at times it was much more physical and aired towards flexibility training and at times it has been more about my mental well-being (with very little physical practice). I find now that my yoga is is providing me with the tools to have a body that is ready and able to cope with the life I wish to lead and my mental and emotional health is in a good place too.
Yoga is an everyday practice. I do yoga everyday but I do not step on to my mat everyday. Yoga is not just a bendy body its how and what you think and feel too.
I have learnt over the years too much flexibility training and my body doesn't feel at its best - I have to find the balance between flexibility and stability - sustainable practice. And that mental health is something we work on everyday - and not something that just magically happens overnight. A spiritual practice for me is a self care practice about core values and boundaries as well as being about how I relate and translate religion within my life.
Yoga can be something you do, it can be something you are, it can be a way you choose to live and it can all of these at the same time. It can be on the mat and off the mat, Yoga is something that evolves within you constantly. Yoga is something that gives you sense of understanding of who you really are and freedom and the courage to be that person.
In my last blog I listed the yoga and movement qualifications I have taken over the years.
So it only seems fitting to list here the people who have inspired me and who's teachings and offerings have helped to open, expand and free my mind beyond what is conventional not just with yoga but the whole of life.
This list is people I have spent in-person time with ; -
In no particular order
Paul Chek - changed my life - saved my life - I don't agree with everything he says, he taught me to have my own mind.
Summer Huntington - Changed my physical yoga practice and continues to inspire me with her passion for movement.
Cecily Milne - Changed my teaching habits and taught me to trust what I know.
Brea Johnson - Was the knowledge, the light and the love I needed to find to keep my heart on track in this journey called life.
Hannah Stewart & Emma Epton - taught me among lots of scientific and fun yoga stuff, that I am on the right path and I am not alone.
Richard Geldard & Matt Bryan - Stay in my own lane, be confident in who I am and what I know and feel.
Mark, Zoe & Alfie - Love and its true infiniteness.
Bye for now
Sarsha
