I love the gym and spend as much time as I can (usually 10 hours a week!) there. I love the atmosphere, the music and the vibe! But it’s not all spinning bikes, boxing and circuits, I dedicate at least three hours a week to my other passion, Yoga. I love yoga because you don’t just give your body a workout you give your mind and your respiratory system a workout too.
It’s been in existence over 5,000 years and was a discipline devised to empower health, happiness and a greater sense of being. Originating from India, Yoga means (from the Sanskrit) ‘to yoke’ or ‘to unite’ and is a system that sets out to unite the mind, body and spirit. Yoga remains one of the oldest surviving practices of holistic health and fitness in the world.
When practising yoga poses (or sanas) you are bringing the bones of the body into alignment, muscles are strengthened, stretched and then relaxed. Through the control of breath working through the poses the blood is oxygenated which in turn helps to improve circulation, tweak the nervous system, help flexibility and stamina and release tension.
The great thing about yoga too is that you don’t have to be a ‘gym bunny’ to do it. There is no competition in yoga, no comparison, merely an intention to work towards and focus on. Whatever stretch your body achieves each time you practice is the stretch your body needs at that moment, with the intention of increasing each time you practice. In my classes there is no comparison and my adult classes are Yoga for all! I believe everyone will find their natural flow and path to fitness and I will help them on that journey.
Why not give it a go? I run classes at a city centre Norwich Gym and in South Norfolk, but there will no doubt be a qualified (and insured) Yoga teacher near you. So take that first step towards getting a workout for your body, mind and soul and join a Yoga class. I promise you, once you start you’ll get the bug and realise that yoga has so many health benefits, both physical and mental you’ll just want to keep on doing it! It was international yoga day on 21st June too so why not take the opportunity to try something new, try the power of yoga and maybe you might just get that beach body too along the way ;)!
