Practice Makes Perfect...

I attended a beginners' Ashtanga yoga class earlier this week with Jean McInerney (at Yoga Rose). I was looking to pick up another class that week and thought it would be nice to slow it down a bit. As I went through the modified, well-directed postures, I started to realise how far I'd come on my yoga journey.

In my first Ashtanga classes it was touch and go whether I would finish in one piece. There were many Sunday afternoons I left Merchant City Yoga barely managing to hobble down the stairs. Then home and straight into a hot bath.

I kept attending classes and gradually found the practice easier. I could hold the postures longer and get deeper into them. However even now several years later, if I take some time away - even if it's due to a cold etc - boy do I feel the difference!

My practice has to be regular. That doesn't necessarily mean I'll do the full Primary Series, but I do need to practice almost every day otherwise, I feel my strength and flexibility slipping back.

What I actually wanted to say to those starting their yoga journey with Jean this week was: getting on your mat regularly is enough. If you practise safely with the right intention, you will start to reap the rewards in terms of strength and flexibility.

One of my students the other day, who has been doing yoga almost every week day with me since the start of lock-down, said that she's noticed a great difference in her flexibility - to the point that she's recommended yoga to her family.

This consistency is key in progressing in our yoga. Judi Farrell at Merchant City Yoga once said to me that once you are always refining your practice no matter how much experience you have. There's no shortcut to this refinement, you just have to get on your mat.

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