Yoga Bunny

I'm now into my fifth week of practising Hatha Yoga and to say I'm enjoying it, is an understatement. I had dabbled with yoga when I was a lot younger; early twenties to be precise, but I never really stuck with it. Why? In my younger days, I was more of a physical person; I enjoyed Karate, weightlifting, track and cross country running; I liked the fast pace, and the feeling of pain when exercising. Strange, I know. Then, in my mid-twenties working life and socialising kicked in and I forgot about exercising, being blessed with an athletic body I felt I didn't need to keep up with the gym. In my late twenties, I went through a terrible breakup and my weight soared, so I joined Weight Watchers and returned to the gym. I dropped from a size 16 dress size to a size 10 in one year and I felt fabulous. I met my soul mate Paul and continued exercising until I fell ill in 2010 with PTSD. My weight has continued to soar since being ill, and even though I attended therapy to recover,  I've never really managed to get it under control. The result of this, well, over the past year I've been complaining of excruciating lower back pain, sore hips and debilitating period pain. I've always suffered from the latter since I was a young girl, but since coming into my late 40's the pain has become a lot worse.

Therefore, my return to exercise, yoga to be precise has been a long time coming. It has been a form of exercise I've wanted to study for a very long time, but one that I thought was too complicated to practice. There are so many versions, and when you're a beginner it can seem very daunting.  My thoughts,  do I follow DVDs, do I follow YouTube or books? All of which have failed me before. Then I heard about a yoga class through a work colleague, a beginners class for curvy women called Peachy Yoga. I felt a bit apprehensive about going but with the support of my friend and with my yoga mat under my arm I agreed to go along. To say I loved my first class was an understatement, yes it was hard work, yes I was sore, but boy my back and hips felt fantastic after the first class. My second class was extremely hard and I left thinking is this really for me? By the third week, I had bought myself yoga leggings, slouch pants, yoga tops and yoga cards (photos above). I even started practising at home. By the fourth week, I knew my period was due around the time of my class and I was worried about the pain, but this month there was no pain, even though my flow was heavy and the same as previous months. Was this a fluke or is this the yoga? I don't know. I've also noticed slight differences in my physique; I'm holding myself differently, my back is straighter, my hips don't hurt after standing all day and my lower back pain comes and goes but feels like more of a tightness rather than a constant dull ache. My arms look slightly more shapely and stronger. While my stomach appears less flabby. I have a long way to go in this area, but I'm determined.

I'm so overjoyed with the results, so far, that I don't want the class to break up for the summer holidays, because I think I'm going to miss it.

p.s. If any of my readers are interested in receiving 25% off their first yoga club box (they are now in the U. K.) please use the following referral link:

https://my.yogaclub.com/shirleyrae