The New Year always brings a flurry of headlines and articles exhorting you to change. And we all have the best intentions to improve our habits – get fitter, get thinner and be more productive. We start off in a blaze of good intentions and by mid-January, when you think the month will never end and can’t believe that the days will get longer and brighter, some of those resolutions start to fall by the wayside – or maybe that is just me.
So this year I am keeping it simple and not looking for the new, next best thing. Instead I am making the resolution to do something, do more of something or find something which brings me joy. Now I am very lucky because I already know what brings me joy, and that is Yoga.
In a nutshell
Yoga, and specifically Iyengar Yoga, brings me joy because:-
- I don’t have to be bendy to do it. It is the yoga for people that can’t do yoga. We use props and well-trained teachers to adapt poses to enable everyone to do a pose.
- I don’t notice the time passing when I am in class. An hour or and hour and a half disappears in a moment, where my brain has been fully occupied away from the stresses of day to day life.
- I feel no pressure to be good at it. It is a bit like golf, we can enjoy yoga together whilst all being at different levels.Â
- I know that if I have an injury or health concern, my teacher will help make the class accessible for me and make adjustments to the poses specifically for me.Â
- I love the people that come and practice Iyengar Yoga. They are friendly, inclusive, supportive and interested people.
- I suppose above all, I take great joy from yoga because I know that I am doing my mind and my body the biggest favour I can do them. I am looking after them, nurturing, strengthening and respecting them.
So if you want to bring joy into your life and are not sure what that might entail, then come along to an Iyengar Yoga class and see for yourself. You are very welcome.