I have spoken about my yoga journey and how it took me to Byron but my relationship with yoga started way before that.
MY RELATIONSHIP WITH YOGA AT THE BEGINNING......
My first introduction to yoga was with my mum in the early 70s I think I was about 12 or 13. Mum and I would work through the book "Yoga with Swami Sarasvati" and try our best to copy the pictures in the book.
This book was published in 1970 and she had a television show which was very popular. I still have the book and love the introduction. I think that it is still relevant today.
The introduction in this book says:
Breathing, gentle exercise and a little relaxation each day will not only reveal your inner beauty but will also give you a firm body and a healthy mental outlook. You will develop a more positive approach to living and become more energetic, active and younger looking.
Once you begin practising yoga you will never stop, because yoga is fun and enjoyable. Yoga is never strenuous, its movements are gentle, especially designed to rid your body of muscular and mental tension.
Over the years I have drifted in and out of yoga and did not realise until my late 40s what an important part of overall health and fitness yoga is. My purpose for doing yoga AT THAT TIME was to always get it right and push myself just as hard as I did with everything else in my life. I would go to yoga and leave in the relaxation part thinking that yoga was just about the exercises (asanas) and that I didn't have time for the relaxation part It wasn't until my late 40s that I realised that this was not the case.
I started to force myself to stay for the savasana (relaxation part of the class) and most of the time I would fall asleep. My body was exhausted, At the time I was working long hours in the fitness industry.
My mind set had always been to go hard or go home.
When I was 51 all this changed when I found Byron Bay......
Although this memory did not seem so significant when I was young. Mum and I just hanging out and having fun with yoga moves.
The memory has became very significant when my yoga became such a big part of my life and I realised when the seed was planted.
Also I love all my memories of my mum and cherish them always.
I lost my mum to cancer when I was 31 and she was 54.
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