Why yoga is great for everybody

The most common statement I hear from anyone thinking about starting yoga is “I’m not flexible, I don’t think yoga is for me?”

And I get you, as the majority of the things you may see on social media are super-toned ladies with their legs wrapped behind their head, balancing on one arm, or to the other end of the spectrum someone running naked around a field of poppies, chanting in a language you have never heard before. This is not me, you may say, and I hear you.

I started yoga originally because I was attracted to the physical side, the moves, the challenges, but that changed after my very first yoga class in India, something magical happened, something I had never done before, I let go. I realised each and every person was there for themselves, each on a different path, a journey, and although the reason we went to that first yoga class may not be clear at the time, it was meant to be.

I had always pushed myself, never relaxed, always competed to be the best I could be, but slowly I started to understand what life is all about, I’m me and that’s okay. Why would I want to judge myself and put pressure on myself, my body, when all I really need to do is just be me?

A day at a time, I slowly started to let go of the fears I had created throughout my life, through the asanas (yoga poses) we can learn so much about ourselves, learning to observe our thoughts, often created through past traumas and hurt, and gradually change our thought patterns.

During a yoga class, you are guided into a balance on one leg, you wobble and get frustrated, then angry and then finally give up. These thoughts you have created in your mind, some days we may wobble, some days we may not, but are you really going to beat yourself up about it...?

Yoga has taught me so many beautiful lessons – we are all uniquely perfect in our individual way, take each day as it comes, live in the now, be kind to yourself, be you.