MY YOGA JOURNEY – WHY I DO WHAT I DO

It has been a magical journey of learning, growing, and loving myself these past few decades. I feel blessed to be on this journey of rediscovery and reconnection to myself in this life.

There are questions I get asked often by friends, students, colleagues about my Yoga journey. Why did I start practising Yoga? How did I get into Yoga? Do I enjoy it? When did it all start?

I’ve never really thought about these questions, the hows and whys of my Yoga journey; but I’ll make an attempt to answer some of these questions here.

How did I get into Yoga?

I started Yoga exactly like many of us do, with āsana classes for a health problem. I had severe shoulder pain as a teenager, one that would cause blackouts. My mother suggested āsana classes with an instructor who also knew accupressure.

I joined the class, and the instructor would give me some accupressure at the end of each class. The physical postures plus accupressure quickly showed results and my shoulders got better; the blackouts stopped. That was how I started!

When did it all start?

I started my first āsana classes at age 15, for the shoulder pain I mentioned. I did my 200-hour TTC a few years after. Then, there was a long, long break in the learning while I got busy with life.

But life itself led me back to Yoga and after more than a decade, I did my second TTC, followed by an in-depth course on the Yoga Sūtra and an advanced 900-hour TTC.

I have been teaching Yoga for a little over 2 years now. I started with teaching basic āsana and slowly grew from there. The learning journey is now almost 20 years long!

Do I enjoy Yoga?

I’ve never been one to exercise regularly, and it is something I still struggle with today. I’m bad with early mornings and routines. So no, the process of making myself do anything regularly has not been enjoyable.

However, the journey of Yoga has been one of the most enjoyable things I’ve done in life. It challenges me, inspires me, and pushes me to be a better person, and there’s nothing else that I’d rather do than better myself every single day!

Why did I start practising Yoga?

I don’t think I gave it a lot of thought when joining my first āsana class or even my first TTC. People told me about it, and I just sort of went with the flow.

I do believe now that there were so many reasons for me to be drawn to Yoga when I was, and to come back to it when I did. It was meant to be!
When I first started Yoga as a teenager,

• I’d lost my father just a year ago; he was the person I was closest to as a kid and it hit me hard without me realising how hard
• I struggled with forming relationships and was extremely introverted and shy; I had no good friends I could speak to
• I didn’t know what I wanted to study or do with my life; I was confused and seeking direction from the universe
• My physical and mental health were in shambles; I was unwell, depressive, and couldn’t verbalise what I was feeling

At this point, Yoga gently nurtured me and gave me self-confidence; a sense of contentment unknowingly seeped in along with it. This led to my health problems slowly reducing and then disappearing altogether. I became more sure of myself, starting holding my head high as I walked instead of curling up into myself.

I met wonderful people who helped me be more self-assured and helped me get over my shyness. I’m still introverted but it’s much less of a struggle approaching and talking to people! I started enjoying conversations.

I went away from regular Yoga practice and study but the teachings stayed in the back of my mind always.
When I came back to Yoga after more than a decade,

• I had a broken relationship and I had no idea what to do with my life
• I had moved cities and lost touch with most of the closest people in my life
• I had no money, no job, no idea what to do with my life
• I struggled with loneliness and a sense of isolation

Yoga seemed to slowly sneak back into my life at this point, and I started being reminded of the teachings again. It helped me to slowly pull myself up and get a job, reconnect with friends, make peace with people and relationships, and to take back control over life.

The more I healed myself, the more I felt drawn to Yoga. I was surprised as to how much I enjoyed teaching Yoga when I started taking on students; they also seemed to connect well with me.

It’s been a very eventful journey, one that I hope continues for the rest of my life. I have so much to learn about myself and the world, and Yoga continues to surprise me with the depth of its wisdom.

If you have more questions about my journey, feel free to comment or reach out to me personally! I would gladly share my experiences if they can help you with your life journey!