Frome Valley Osteopaths

As many of you may know, Adriene Mishler, internet yoga teacher extraordinaire, has released a 30 day yoga journey for beginners, each January 1st for the last 9 years. Each session lasting about 20 minutes.

This year I thought I would give it a go. I have practiced yoga before and have used some yoga exercises each morning for a long time. However, my previously very busy clinic life with late finishes, combined with my introversion, and complete lack of desire to leave the house past 5pm, 4pm in the winter… has meant I haven’t been to a yoga class for a looong time.

I am not big into new years resolutions and grand plans with no smaller steps, but I am a BIG fan of something to focus on, something small ish and relatively doable. I was feeling the need for a bit of a confidence boost, a desire to feel comfortable in my body, and strong in my body again, after a while where I hadn’t felt that, and my body hadn’t felt hugely safe. At the time I was pretty tired and so this was the only goal of any kind I had in mind, do the 30 days, see how I felt after.

I love a home yoga practise, no-one to hear all the many noises we make (if you know, you know), no-one to get caught up in comparing ourselves to, no need to be wearing anything more than pyjamas, and no-one to see you bail when balancing isn’t your thing that day! 😉

At the start of the 30 days Adriene makes it clear that getting to the mat each day is the hardest bit, she is absolutely right…

During the first week I noticed that my left side was much weaker, that I was nowhere near as strong as I have been, that my mind was all over the place and it definitely didn’t look pretty. But if I made it to the mat, the rest would look after itself, and no matter how much I moaned internally, fell over and shook, the sessions were completed and I always felt at least a little better by the end.

Yoga is awesome because it really doesn’t matter if you can get into the shapes or not, it’s about the process of getting there (or not), noticing your own resistance, accepting where you are and staying connected to your breath, among many other things. During a time when so many people spend so much time in their heads, it can be a wonderful thing to try to feel the sensations in your body, without judgement, with exploration, for a while and see where you end up.

Within a few weeks I noticed my energy levels were increasing slightly and I was starting to feel like I could take on more of life again. By the last week I really didn’t want to miss a day, getting to the mat was easier and my body was stronger, particularly my deep core muscles and my arms. The confidence boost from completing something was very welcome, and I’ve been able to enjoy using my body in other ways, also knowing I’m a bit more injury proof.

Yoga, a bit wonderful, for lots of reasons, an ‘exercise class’ with grace and acceptance, and learning to love your body just the way it is… while it slowly changes. 10/10 highly recommended. Why not give it a go, see where it takes you…

You can find all of Adriene’s yoga journeys, this years was called Center, and much more, on her YouTube channel @yogawithadriene.

Lauren Manning BSc Hons Ost.