Yoga for beginners

I am always one for trying new things - whether this be food, clothes, wine - I am your woman. A fitness fanatic (as I often like to call myself), it's only fitting that I came across the wonders of yoga at some point. Prior to attending my first yoga class, I had heard many great things from various friends of mine about this mindful practice. Often said to test your strength and stability, this is a workout like no other. Of course, this could only make me eager to find out more. I went along to my first yoga session not only for the workout element (which I have to say didn't quite live up to my expectations), but to open my mind, to feel liberated. The latter I certainly achieved. This was a very relaxing session where I got to stretch my body to new limits and clear my mind of any worries. For those of you who aren't sure what yoga is, or if you are reading this because you want to find out more, and possibly try it for yourself then do read on.

We began then with a quick warm up- stretching our bodies in all sort of ways, and of course finding out who were the most flexible ones amongst us. I have got to give it to our yoga instructor - she was not only very friendly but also very spiritual too. After a quick warm up, it was time to try out some of the more testing exercises (if that's what you call them). Luckily for me I have quite good balance - my weekly gym sessions certainly made me look like I had been doing this for a while. Some of the moves I was already familiar with thanks to my Wii fit back in the day. We finished off the session by turning off the lights and sleeping. Yes - sleeping. I didn't quite know what to make of the sleeping part and I can't say I was overly keen. I was expecting my money to be well spent and to feel like I had actually worked out afterwards. That's not to say it wasn't enjoyable, I just think a lot of the moves you could do in the comfort of your own home using the wonderful Youtube of course (god bless the internet). I ended up in fits of laughter and walked out with a rather red face. Maybe I am not cut out for this spiritual stuff after all...

As you may know, I have an avid interest in anything concerning mindfulness, which has acted as a constant theme on my blog posts recently. I often find myself over thinking things, especially at night due to recent trauma in my life, and yoga is a brilliant way of de stressing - there is no denying this. However, just like meditation (which I will be focusing on in one of my next blog posts), this is something you have to practice in order to get the most out of it. Even though this isn't a strenuous workout, you are testing your core stability and strength which makes this an art form in its own right. Remember, training your mental health is completely different yo your physical, and this is something we need to be more concious of.

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