Up until a few months ago I had been running my own business in the marine survey sector working all over the world. I took up yoga to get away from the stresses and strains of corporate life. For more than 15 years the once a week fix to a local class was enough to reset the balance.
A few years ago it became too much. I was spending more time on planes, meetings, and in-between airport terminals than I was sharing life with my husband and young daughter. Enough was enough - something had to give.
In 2015 I came to the conclusion the best remedy would be to devote more time to yoga, and I decided to to study the ancient practice at a very high level. I undertook a 2-year 500 hour advanced teacher training course with Devon school of yoga. The course completely transformed me as a person - for the better. Yoga became a way of life. During the 2 years my brain body and soul were nourished and rebalanced.
I realised that we often pigeon-hole ourselves into a certain line of work as part of conditioning. Another life changing event, and a serious head injury at the end of last year forced my to slow down, and left me with moderate hearing loss. The time out led me to see I had everything I needed right here, and I couldn't go back to the life I had left behind. I put my marine business to bed, and decided to focus on developing my passion as a yoga teacher, poet and writer.
I haven't looked back as I love sharing my passion for yoga with others. My life is also going the way it was intended, the path reset. I am in the moment, and spending well earned quality time with the ones I love.
Its common to feel out of control. We try and do it all as thats what society dictates to us, and we either lash-out when we reach boiling point; or we might find an aerobic release through sport, or we just curl up in a ball and sleep.
Sport is great for releasing "feel good" hormones, but it also takes us on an adrenaline high. To counter act this high we need time to nourish and repair the systems of the body, and most of all to calm the mind.
Sleep is a state of bodily repair and is not enough to reset the nervous system entirely which has been stimulated by over-activity of the brain. In yoga we go back to the breath, still our thoughts, and when we practice with awareness we become more present. This calms the internal systems and brings everything back into balance.
The joy of yoga is to open the door to that internal connection. To take a pause, stretch and reconnect. And in that space, that moment you might just discover the most important person in your life - you..