Yoga, my favourite addiction.

Some of you know that I’ve recently completed my 200h Yoga Teacher Training and started teaching here in Melbourne. But a lot of you might not know why. The list of reasons is endless. But in a nutshell, this journey has resulted in me letting go of a life and a job that I loved, to be here today teaching fellow yogis a practice that I adore.

I don’t even think I could explain in words exactly what yoga has done for me and what it continues to do for me everyday, that could take us a decade, but there is one pose that for me sums up my current relationship with yoga. And that relationship is about constantly moving, constantly growing, and constantly asking more from myself and more from the world around me.

Wheel Pose, Urdhva Dhanurasana, for those playing at home with Sanskrit, is one of the strongest, and I think, most beautiful backbends in the Asana collection. It was my nemesis before my teacher training. I didn’t have the arm strength, I didn’t have the back flexibility, and I didn’t have the shoulder mobility. So I’d be there on the mat, giving it all I had and I would still be lying on the floor not going anywhere.

One day, in the middle of the yoga training, I decided it was mind over matter and I wasn’t going to let it get the better of me. And of course, I lifted myself straight into it for the first time, as easy as if I’d been doing it for years.

It wasn’t perfect by any means, but gosh darn it, I was up! My heart was racing, like it should be in a true backbend, I felt a little light headed, but I was loving it.  It was a turning point for me during the training and it made me feel like maybe I could do this.

As the months have gone on, Wheel Pose has become one of my favourite poses. And variations have started becoming my new challenges. Lifting my legs up, or brining my toes back to reach my head. Again, I’m nowhere near it, but I won’t stop until I am.

So what has this pose taught me? It’s taught me to believe in more than what my body has shown me in the past, to never settle for where I am now, and to learn to let go, have fun, and give something a red hot go. Also being such a beautiful chest and heart opener, this pose has taught me it’s ok to feel vulnerable and it’s ok to have an open heart without fear.

Yoga has that lovely ability to teach you about so much more the the physical body, in just one pose.

For those who want to come play on the mat with me, you can find me at Yoga 213 at 5.15pm on Wednesday nights and at The Collective at 6.15pm and 7.30pm on Thursdays, and 9am and 10.30am on Sunday mornings. Would love to see you on the mat.

Namaste. xx