Stress, Anxiety and I
And the Road to Recovery In 2005 I was experiencing panic attacks on a daily basis, sometimes 3 or 4 times on a particular bad day. When I look back and reflect on that time what alarms me the most ...
Teaching Yoga
Since the moment I decided that I was going to go for it and teach yoga life has been on a non-stop roller coaster and I have had very little time to think about the reasons why I want to teach yoga. The 8 weeks prior to starting the very first beginner yoga course seemed to be about an endless list of tasks to complete to prepare for the start of the course. Those efforts were worth it although perhaps a little stressful alongside working full time and working towards completing a leadership course. Never the less the actual teaching of yoga has been truly enjoyable and a heart warming experience too.
In recent weeks I have really felt the need to focus in on why I am teaching yoga, what is it purpose so I can help others. It all started with a free webinar that I came across by Yoga Teacher, Marketer and Entrepreneur Ryan Rockwell. For an hour of my time it was so worth it the webinar presented me with the opportunity to look at my own attitude to teaching yoga and also to look at my own attitude towards myself as a yoga teacher. From the webinar I was able to align myself with the true path of yoga in terms of Pantanjali’s 8 limbs of yoga and what they meant to me as a teacher, this provided the focus of what my foundation of integrity is in terms of teaching. Along with the webinar came a free workbook that helped me to gain further insight into why I am teaching yoga, how did yoga help me and most importantly what is it about Yoga that I love to teach so much. First of all I thought it would be nice to share how yoga helped me and then also why I love teaching yoga so much:
How Yoga helped me:
- Yoga helped me to overcome panic attacks, stress and anxiety
- Once I put myself on the mat I know it is time to focus on Yoga only so for that moment however long that is I forget about everything else that worries me, it provides a sense of peace. It provides a sense of freedom and I often find that what was worrying me has gone, I would gain a different perspective, become aware of a solution.
It creates a space for a new line of thought to come through.
- Yoga taught me to value myself and love myself.
- Yoga helped me to be more considerate of myself of what I wanted and needed. I started to hear myself more about what I needed and wanted in my life.
- It changed my perception that I wasn’t solely a nurse, that I had parts of myself that I had forgotten, a writer, experimental entrepreneur. It provided the confidence to experiment with what I thought was lost or unachievable.
- I became calmer, more relaxed, I reacted less and took more action, I stopped procrastinating and I loved more. It created space to do more, exercise more, eat better and sleep better.
Why I love teaching Yoga so much:
- I love to teach people with busy lives where they have little time for themselves. I love creating an opportunity for them to take time out once a week for 90mins where they can give themselves that time. It’s about self- care and self- love and recognising that it is okay to have that time for yourself.
- I love to teach people about the meaning of Yoga, Yoga means Union and connecting the mind body and breath, it provides a focus, a concept, an opportunity to leave behind whatever is outside the yoga room door, all be it for a short-time.
- I love teaching breath work and the benefit of how it helps to reduce anxiety, how it can help during panic attacks, heightened stress.
- I love teaching salute to the sun because it provides an opportunity of being in complete flow focusing on nothing else from asana, body movements and breath. It provides a free-flowing energy. A feeling of flying, of being free from stress and worry.
- I love how yoga provides an opportunity to look after themselves better, remember themselves, remember that they matter. How yoga can help improve confidence, better decision making. It brings you back to your true self.
There are so many benefits to yoga on all different levels, but this is what Yoga means to me, why it has been such an important factor in my life and above all why I love to teach Yoga and be the best teacher I can possibly be.
