MY YOGA JOURNEY

 I believe nothing happens by chance.

 Also, I firmly believe that the beginning of my yoga journey was no random experience.

It was 1998. I was twenty-eight and in desperate need of direction and emotional healing.

It feels good to look back and recognise how far yoga practise has taken me.

 Let me walk you through this heart-opening and life-changing experience. 

 Who knows, it might even inspire you, in case you are not a “yoga person”.

 I have divided my yoga journey into four parts and added some resources at the end to help you in your yoga practice. 

• How I started yoga
• My first (awkward) yoga class
• 10 Ways in which yoga changed my life
• Final thoughts
• Tips and Resources to start your yoga practice 

HOW I STARTED YOGA

My yoga journey was instigated by maternal insistence and persistence, at a moment when I was feeling adrift.

 I was still having difficulty adapting to life in Portugal, even after four years living there. The thought of my previous dream-like life in Lugano, Switzerland, as a privileged undergraduate student haunted me. The real world of limitations was not what I signed up for. Life felt very gloomy and pointless.

To make matters worse, I had just finished a long relationship, which made me feel rejected, lost and miserable.

Though I did not realise at the time, I was going through a deep depression.

Not knowing what else to do to help, my mother suggested I took a yoga class with Luis Lima, at the time her private yoga teacher.

At first, I determinedly refused the suggestion.

I was a push-ups-gym-girl who thought yoga was for weird, spaced out, peace-and-love, granola-eaters. I did not see how yoga could help me.

(Ironically, now some of my friends and family think I have become boring and weird. I just love it! Welcome to my weird world!”)

Eventually, after a lot of insistence on my mother’s part and a lot of resistance on mine, I finally agreed. But I made it clear that it was “just once to make you happy, mom”.

I just wanted her to get off my case. How bad could a yoga class be anyway, right?

MY FIRST (AWKWARD) YOGA CLASS

I was anxious because yoga was a total incognita to me. It had never been on my fitness radar before. I didn’t know at all what to expect.

Not only did I not know anything about yoga, I knew even less about yoga philosophy.

In addition, I was not at all comfortable with the idea of having a one-on-one class private class in the house of a man I barely knew.

In those days I was extremely self-conscious of my body and could not stand physical contact, especially from strangers.

I remember that first class as if it was yesterday.

To start, Luis lined me up against the wall, asked me to make some movements and started making some remarks about my posture, back and bone structure, flexibility and balance.

It sounded like there was some fixing to be done, but it was solvable with practice. “Yeah, right”, I thought, “he just wants to hook me into his classes”!

Sun What?

 (Sun Salutation is not a tribal dance to the sun! It is rather a graceful sequence of 12 asanas, or positions, performed at the beginning of yoga practice, after initial relaxation and breathing exercises. In Hindu mythology, the Sun God is worshipped as a symbol in health and immortality.)

Luis when on,

 “Inhale in standing position, exhale, hands in prayer position, inhale bringing the arms up toward the sky and arch your back, exhale forward fold, inhale right foot back, exhale and hold your breath in plank, exhale bring knees, chin and chest to the floor …” 

 “Oh my, what is all this about”, I thought to myself.

 All those funny names! I would never remember them! 

 Let alone the sequence… and on top of it, it had to be synchronized with yogic breathing. 

 “But I can only breathe through my mouth!”

 Not easy. And to tell you the absolute truth, it took me a long time to fully get it right and be rewarded with the blissful benefits of this amazing sequence. 

My introduction to the Sun Salutation was such a frustrating experience, that I was very close to giving it up and walking away before the end of the class.

THEN MAGIC HAPPENED

I felt like a rusty skeleton. I could not get over the fact that with all the hours in the gym every day I was so stiff.

Even with all the swimming, cardio-fitness and weight lifting, I did not have enough flexibility or balance. Not to mention the lack of coordination to follow sequential movements, like in choreography.

“Pathetically pitiful!” I thought.

But then something happened that completely erased my negative experience.

At the end of the class, Luis asked how I was feeling and we had a chat about what was happening in my life.

With only a few words he made me look at my situation from a completely different angle.

It became clear to me that what was most affecting me and causing suffering, was merely a matter of perspective.

All the anguish I was carrying vanished by magic.

I felt relieved.

For the first time I understood that although we cannot change our circumstances, we can always change the way we look at them.

When I walked out of Luis house, I felt light, hopeful, relieved. Most importantly, I understood that there was a lot of emotional as well as physical work to be done.

That was the first of many classes to come and over time, and to this day, Luis became a very dear friend to me.

He walked me, with baby steps, into a spirituality that was latent in my then atheist self, triggering a transformation that I could never have predicted.

14 YEARS AFTER MY FIRST YOGA CLASS

Then life happened.

 Fast forward to 2014.

It was an extremely demanding year for me. I was expanding my business, organising multiple B2B wine events around Europe, participating in trade shows, and organizing press trips.

Pressure, responsibility and stress were a constant in my life.

The ultimate tension happened in the opening morning of a wine tasting in Riga, Latvia, when the transportation company failed to deliver the wines.

As a result, we had to cancel the wine tasting and handle the frustrating consequences of the outcome.

At this point, at the limit of anxiety, I promised myself to make time to recover and dedicate time to my body, and especially my mind.

Since I only take medicine in extreme situations, yoga was the only cure without prescription that I could think of.

The Universe heard my cry for help and put me in front of a YouTube channel called Yoga with Adrienne.

The next day I was back on the mat with my new virtual yoga teacher. 

Soon after, while taking a walk in Putney, London, I walked into a Sivananda Vedanta Yoga Center and bought YOGA – Your Home Practice Companion and a new yoga mat, which I have to this day.

Given the lack of time, the solution I found, was to commit to waking up one hour earlier to hop on the mat with Adrienne.

10 WAYS IN WHICH YOGA CHANGED MY LIFE

1 – Through Yoga, I learned to breathe, meditate and be mindful.

2 – The practice of Yoga helped me opened my heart, awaken my awareness and increase my tolerance.

3 – It naturally led me to adjust my eating and drinking habits and the way I look at food.

4 – By balancing my chakras (energy points in the body) I slowly healed my emotional wounds. 

5 – In everyday practice, yoga teaches me patience, persistence and perseverance. 

6 – Yoga practice and philosophy give me physical and emotional strength and balance.

7 – I have learned to relax, let go, and give myself to the precious moments of life.

8 – Yoga awakened me to a new way of life. 

9 – Yoga taught me the way to a fulfilling life.

10 – Through yoga, I understood that it is never too late to start again.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I am passionate about yoga for the way it makes me feel, the way it makes me see the world and connect with people.

Yoga showed me the way to spirituality, compassion, healthy mind and body, and inner peace.

Every time I fail, yoga teaches me I did so because I am human. It was just part of my path, not because I am a failure. So I try again.

I will be eternally grateful to my mother for insisting with me to take that yoga class all those years ago. Had it not been for that, I might not have started my yoga journey and this blog might not exist.

TIPS AND RESOURCES TO START YOUR YOGA PRACTICE

FREE MINDVALLEY YOGA QUEST MASTECLASS – Learn different yoga styles from top world yoga teachers. Go to free Master Class here.

THE BLISS SHOP – Check our online shop for yoga books, apparel and yoga accessories

 BOOK A YOGA RETREAT – Try a yoga retreat to get you started. There are retreats all the world for all levels and pockets. Check this link for options.

 OTHER YOGA ARTICLES – You can also check the posts below for yoga for beginners tips and insight.

6 Pillars of Blissful Happiness

Common Myths About Yoga – 4 Misconceptions to Disregard

How to Preapare for Your First Yoga Class

Going on a Yoga Retreat – Great Energy Reboot

Yoga Books for Beginners – 5 Must-Read Books