Well, that was me about 25 years ago. I was a sporty, active person with an inability to sit still. I was always on the go. I attended my first yoga class and everyone in the class was kind and chatty. I remember the teacher, but not his name or the style of yoga he taught. My biggest memory is the meditation, or more what I did during the meditation! Yep, on my first session, I fell asleep! It wasn’t just a light sleep though, I had gone so deep, that they had to wake me up. They were very kind, but I was mortified. And yep, you have guessed it, I never went back, didn’t want to deal with the embarrassment. Whenever anyone suggested that I try Yoga with them, it wasn’t for me. I moved on to Pilates and did that for about 6 years.
I just wanted to show that maybe the time that you tried you weren’t ready or you just haven’t found the right teacher for you. We all have our unique way of teaching, what I teach may not be what another teacher might do. There are so many modalities that compliment yoga. Some move to crystals and spirituality, some move into astrology and lunar cycles, some into sound. There are many styles of yoga. From Ashtanga to Vinyasa flow.
Fast forward 17 years and I was on the way to burn out, my body was giving in and I was stressed up to my eyeballs. It was suggested that I take up yoga. I found an independent yoga teacher who taught Iyengar and Hatha yoga. I attended once a week, hid at the back of the class and was unable to do anything that meant using my right shoulder, no downward dog, not even able to take my arm above my head. And by the time it got to the meditation at the end, that was me done, I didn’t have the bandwidth to sit still for long and as an active person, I just didn’t get meditation. But I kept going every Wednesday and I was starting to enjoy it, but still not into meditation! I would leave at the end of the yoga.
Another 3 years on and my shoulder wasn’t an issue anymore, I was loving yoga, I very rarely missed a class and I stopped for the meditation too! I had 3 more teachers by then, each bringing something different to the class and to me. The final teacher was so unlike what you would expect from a yoga teacher, but that’s when I realised that it was something that I would like to try. I am now a teacher and run my classes in Hullbridge and Rayleigh, Essex.
So, what have you learnt from this blog? Just because you didn’t like yoga the first time you tried it, doesn’t mean that you won’t like it the next time you try. A teacher can make all the difference. So, can where you are in life. You might not like my style, but there is a teacher out there for you. If you have a passion for crystals, meditation, sound or are looking for a community, there is a class out there that suits you, you just need shop around. But I hope that you try my classes out as you will never know what you have missed.
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