Do you find yoga or does yoga find you?

I walked into my first beginner yoga class many years ago, on the advice of my doctor and physiotherapist. Both had pretty much said that they didn’t know what was causing my chronic lower back pain and “had I thought about trying Yoga?”

The answer was actually yes, but had never ventured to a yoga studio out of fear that I didn’t belong.

But with no other options as my disposal off I went to my first beginner class.

I thought, I’d stick it out until my back stoped hurting and maybe I’d learn a thing or two about how to help myself when pain was getting the better of me.

Honestly I didn’t really know what to expect, I was self-conscious and of course the first thing I said to the instructor was “I can’t touch my toes”. With a half smile she said that there was no need to worry and pointed to a space as the front of the class.

“Yoga is not about touching your toes. It is what you learn on the way down.”

— Jigar Gor

That first time on the mat, set in motion a chain of events that led me to eventually embark on my yoga teacher training, to starting my own yoga business.

From that very first class I had fallen in love with everything yoga taught me everytime I stepped onto the mat.

Since that moment, I have often wondered…..

Was it me that found yoga or if it was yoga that found me?

Mo Gawdat, in his book The Little Voice in Your Head, talks about little nudges from the Universe, the kind of subtle signs that attempt to guide you down a new or different path. They aren’t loud shouty signs but instead gentle prompts, gradually lighting the way towards what makes you happiest.

Was my bad back one of those nudges, without it, I would have continued to make excuses about trying something so out of my comfort zone.

My body was literally screaming at me to try Yoga but I didn’t know to listen.

Can you remember why you first started Yoga?

Maybe you haven’t started yet but you’ve been thinking about it for a while, but somehow something always comes up or you talk yourself out of if.

It’s ok it happens to everyone at one point in life. Because we sometimes aren’t ready to listen. I promise that once you start, you’ll recognise all the times the Universe was sending you little nudges towards your best self.

Here are 4 nudges I recommend you start paying attention to as a starting point:

You see someone doing Yoga and notice that you have started to breath in sync with what you’re watching/listening to.
When someone suggests that you try yoga or meditation and your response is along the lines of ‘I don’t think it’s for me, my brain is to busy at the moment’ or ‘maybe when things slow down a bit’.
Suddenly the Instagram algorithm is sending lots of Yoga inspired content your way.
Finally, and maybe the most important is if you have ever said to yourself or a friend, I’d love to try yoga but……

Take this as a nudge from me to you, to let yoga find you!

You won’t regret it.