The Benefits of Practising Yoga
… And What It Does For Me
In September 2012 I started on my yoga teacher-training course in
London. I would not have known back then just how much it would affect me, how
it would be so life changing and important to me.
It’s especially
nice to be living here in Brighton, with the sea nearby, and to
have a short walk home from class. I have done
my practise today as well as a class locally and I’m so incredibly grateful to
have yoga in my life.
Why? Because … I am calmer, I am more resilient when things get
stressful, I am even more thankful for the little things in life, I cry less
and accept more, my body is leaner and stronger overall, and lastly I feel that
I know myself a whole lot better because of yoga. I feel truly honoured to be
able to teach this wonderful art and ancient practice, so that I can do my best
to assist others in a similar way.
Training
I have been active all my life. From loving gymnastics as a little
kid to doing my degree in dance, I have been nicknamed ‘a pocket rocket’ many a
time. Having been a personal trainer for over five years, I enjoy a mixture of
disciplines to keep me feeling happy, strong and slim. Yoga has definitely
helped with another passion of mine, kettlebell training. When doing kettlebell
swings with a 12kg bell one day, I realised how much stronger I felt in my back
and shoulder muscles.
Emotionally
It’s not all peachy and a story of discovering my bliss. At times,
going to yoga teacher training has left me feeling open, exposed, vulnerable
and in need of hibernating under the duvet with a cup of milky spiced chai. I found that it
can stir up things that I didn’t even know were troubling me. Yoga allows you
to work through your own ‘baggage’, digest it and come out alive the other side
and be grateful for the experience.
It is natural for a group to bond through studying and training
together. But there is
something much deeper than can be said about the kind of ‘sisterhood’ felt amoungst the group of teacher trainee Yogis.
After the first couple of weekends and once we’d had a chance to meet everyone,
I came home and said to my boyfriend “I’ve never been in a room with so many
nice people all at one time”. At school or other group events, there’s always
one with an ego problem, or a performer of the bunch who wants to outshine the
rest. However, at yoga training I always felt fully accepted and comfortable in
my surroundings. — This is such a good thing because at various points
throughout the course, we all needed to have a good cry — a meltdown over the Sanskrit
names for poses — or something. On the last day of the course, the group went
out for a lovely vegetarian meal in central London. Upon saying goodbye it
dawned on me that we would not be together as the same group again. Sure we’ll arrange
meet ups, but some will move away, etc. so really, it was the end of an era.
A Mantra in every day life
George Harrison describes a mantra as ‘a mystical sound vibration encased in a syllable’. One of my favourite mantras (with lots of syllables!) that I learned from the course was ‘Loka Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu’. This translates as ‘May all beings everywhere be happy and free and may the thoughts, words and actions of my own life contribute in some way to that happiness and to that freedom for all’.
Namaste and here’s to the future Yogis! With love,
light and happiness xx
