How I started Yoga (and got serious with it!)

In 2002, after decades of chronic and occasionally cripplingly acute back pain, and having tried just about every remedy out there, I decided to give Iyengar yoga a go. I knew it would not be a one class fix, and I committed to giving it a red hot go for an extended and indefinite period. 

The most important word here is ‘committed’: I made a rational, strong decision to complete the course. It was a very similar process to committing to an important relationship: it was not something that just happened, and it was ’serious yoga’ because I decided  and resolved to complete the course with enthusiasm, diligence and good humour. 

After my beginners course of 8 weeks and 8 classes, I could already feel my body—and particularly my back—aligning differently and in a much better way. It was very easy from there to maintain and strengthen my commitment to continue. After a couple of years I had corrected many bad habits in my posture and movements, and acute episodes of back pain were becoming much less frequent.  

Nowadays, although from time to time I may miss a few weeks of classes, my body will tell me emphatically that it needs a yoga session and I definitely listen! I recently turned 60, and I am continually made aware of how my body finds movements that were once simple and pain free much more difficult. Getting older is challenging, but there is ample evidence that, through this simple decision to commit to yoga, there is real potential to significantly ease some of those physical challenges.