Over time yoga has become a fundamental part of my life, this didn’t happen overnight and continues to build with each and every practice. Recently I was thinking back across my yoga journey, and I noticed how far I have come and how much I have learnt about myself along the way. Yet, I know there is even more to learn and experience ahead of me.
I first heard of yoga when I was at college. Some of my friends were going to classes and asked me to come along. Naively I didn’t see any benefit in ‘just stretches’ and I didn’t give it another thought.
While I was at university a friend of mine convinced me to come along to a weekly yoga class as she didn’t want to go by herself, I figured it couldn’t hurt to give yoga a go. It was a mid-week evening class held in a room at a local school (I love the full circle, as I now teach a mid-week class at a local school). After once class I was kicking myself, I felt so good and it wasn’t ‘just stretches’ as I had previously thought.
After this I started going to yoga classes at my local gym and I loved how my body was feeling after the classes, but I didn’t grasp the mental and spiritual benefits. As a result I would rush off after class, often skipping Savasana, which I now know is the most important part of the class! I did yoga like this for about 10 or so years.
Fast forward to 2014 when I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and my focus turned to finding a exercise regime that would help me to keep my blood sugar under control. I would go for walks and hit the treadmills at the gym thinking this was what I ‘should’ do, despite my deep dislike for this type of exercise. As a result I was causing more stress in my life, which was counterproductive to my goal of balancing my blood sugar.
From the treadmill at the gym I saw signs going up for a new yoga space across the road from the gym and I would watched as people came out from the studio carrying their yoga mats. I desperately wanted to go to the studio, but I assumed it was just for people who were ‘good’ at yoga. I laugh writing this, as I now know there is no such thing. Yoga practice is never good or bad, it is just a practice.
Finally, I worked up the courage to step foot in the yoga studio, signing up for a new student pass which allowed me to try different classes. One week in I cancelled my gym membership and I have never stepped foot in a gym again! I was hooked. I found supportive and knowledgeable teachers who provided a safe space for my practice. I soaked up as much as I could, attending as many classes I could a week, I was blown away by what I was learning about myself and how my body was feeling. While the physical benefits were incredible, it was the mental and emotional benefits that I loved the most.
I wanted to learn more, I started to read and learn more about yoga. The more I learnt, the more I wanted to know, so I started to look for a yoga teacher training and connected with Rachel Zinman, from Yoga for Diabetes. I couldn’t believe the alignment to what I was looking for in yoga teacher training. After many false starts, I got an email out of blue inviting me to attend Rachel’s training in South Africa (read more when I stepped outside my comfort zone), which is one of the most amazing experiences of my life.
Throughout my training I loved diving deeper and deeper into the theology and history. When I finished I knew I wanted to teach, but I was hesitant to jump in, wanting to integrate the trainings into my personal practice first. So I continued to attend regular classes at the studio, until one day I was asked if I would like to teach and if I could take the Sunday Restorative class.
This was my favourite class of the week. Despite feeling unable to fill the shoes of the teachers that come before me, I took the plunge and the opportunity to teach this class. I remember driving to my first class as a teacher, I realised that I wasn’t nervous, I felt calm and ready. I still love teaching this class and sharing the benefits with that I have felt as a student before.
Earlier this year I started teaching my first class through 11:11 and started building my own community of students, I am incredibly grateful to be able to teach and continue to share what I have learnt in my yoga journey. I know that ahead of me in this journey will be more trainings, further learning and exploration and I’m excited to see what it uncovers along the way.
This is a longer blog than normal, so thank you for reading along. I would love to connect with you along your yoga journey.
Xo
Jo