What do you love most about yoga?

Honestly and in a nutshell - its guides me back to me, it makes me feel radiantly alive. I love yoga for that and the little nudges of sunshine, clarity and daily doses of honest happiness.

On a deeper level, I love the fact that yoga physically and emotionally builds my strength, helping to me to support myself, my family and loved ones. It regulates my hormones and reactions and helps me to not completely lose it every month. Its teaches me daily lessons and to be sensitively aware to everything!

The whole experience of yoga allows me to tap into a deep instinctive knowledge, that I have all I need inside me, I have the power to reshape, redefine, create, heal and find peace- totally empowering.

How does the practice of yoga and meditation help you in life off the mat?

Ok for now I am going to break this down into ‘bite size’ expressions, here are a few, hope it’s useful…

When I practice an inversion for instance, I flip my perspective literally, on an emotional level this helps me to be less judgmental of people and situations and shift ridged, stagnate beliefs, becoming more open minded.

Practicing a physically uncomfortable asana, reminds me that I can soften more, find a little space to surrender. In my life that translates to me, in awkward emotions or situations, using breath and the repeated knowledge that I will travel past this moment in time and everything will be ok.

In back-bending poses, I often feel very fearful and vulnerable, this wakes up an inner drive to be braver, and to trust and believe in my-self.

Experiencing the ‘flow’ of asana and transitions, reminds me to move more purposefully in my life decisions, to keep going, stop procrastinating (a big one for me), ride the waves and live with more lightness in the heart.

In stillness, relaxation and breathing, I give myself a gift of space to release thinking, to notice and break cycles that don’t serve me any more. It’s like pressing pause on the controller and having a mental clear out. The breath work is very deep, building prana (or energy) gives me a massive dose of positive and clear thinking patterns, concentration and spiritual peace.

Meditation, often an aloof concept, needs time to develop in its own personal way. I still need to move and literally work though all my shit, to get to there. In the end ultimately it allows me to feel the ‘now’, my inner self, lifted and steadily suspended in a deep peaceful pranic force, that I have created, a little moment of magic, receptive and truly present (even for the shortest moment). Me totally ‘owning’ my magnificent, beautiful flawed, raw human experience.