Yoga Poses to maybe Yoga…
by Jessie Paterson, our newest member of the EICY Community Benefit Society Board
My yoga journey started sometime in the early 1990s… I can’t remember exactly the date but I do remember going along to my first class and thinking this will be yet another thing I can’t do - the story of my life up until then. BUT yoga was different from the start - there was no such thing as not doing. The precision, accuracy and care really drew me in - yes my body didn’t do what I wanted it to do, I was stiff and inflexible but within my bodies limitations I started to feel a real sense of quietness and peace. Yes, I had to battle when frustrations bubbled up when I struggled with some poses but in someways that is part of the learning and power of yoga to work on those negative feelings.
Over the years I have been blessed with attending classes taught by great teachers - too many to mention individually but I am indebted to them all. As time passed, we were always encouraged tohave a strong home practice. This really eluded me - during my regular gym visits I would practice yoga poses but this never felt like yoga to me, more just another exercise. At home our space is limited so any yoga was purely attempts at things that I was struggling with - head balance etc and nothing more. For me yoga needed to be in a class - I entered the class and peace settled within me and for the time of the class I could discard the worries of day to day life. I knew this was not ideal by any means but for me I was satisfied.
Then the pandemic struck and like many my roots were pulled from under me. In many ways I needed yoga more than I ever but yet I had no where to go. By accident we found some online classes that used yoga poses, pilates etc as the basis of the exercises - this was far from yoga but in someways this opened things up for me. To begin with it I was purely moving into the poses - it was exercise only but slowly I started to hear the wise words of the various teachers that had taught me over the years and my yoga poses started to change. Slowly I started to hear my own inner teacher voice and peace started to come back. Yes I was in my home space with all the restrictions of space and equipment but my yoga was coming back. I jumped at the chance when zoom yoga classes started - again I could hear the teacher guide me but I realised things had changed, my own practice had moved on, I was more aware of my own body, and while still reliant on the wise words of the teacher I was also able to assess my own needs. I have a long way to go but the power of yoga is the journey.
