Why Yoga is My Non-Negotiable

Hello you and welcome to my first Blog post, I will alway try to write from my heart, if you know me and come to my classes you know I can go off on a tangent so whatever the subject, expect it to meander. I hope you enjoy my meanderings.

Tess xxx

Why Yoga is My Non-Negotiable
By Tess

Why do I need yoga? Because without it, I’m like a ship lost at sea. Before yoga, I was floundering, smashing my metaphoric self against the rocks, making the same mistakes over and over. Poor choices galore. (Some stories I’ll only share on retreat... come along and I’ll spill.)

Would I trade those times? Maybe then. Not now. Since finding yoga, my outlook, and my body, are more aligned with who I really am. I know, it sounds a bit wanky. Like something off a parody meme: “I’m soooo aligned with my beliefs right now.” You can hear it, can’t you? Anyway, that’s another post...

The truth is, without yoga, I lose spark. I get moody, unmotivated, disillusioned. There’s a myth that we’re supposed to be happy all the time. We’re not. Life is hard. Always has been. Whatever the era; ’70s blackouts, wartime bombers, industrial smog, medieval leprosy, life throws it at you.

And yet, there’s always gold in the grit. I love the phrase, “When nickel rains down, there is always gold.” But the pressure now, especially with social media, to appear constantly happy, it’s exhausting! Even when we know it’s fake, we still get caught up in it. We are becoming a little risk averse in this country, I was watching Guy Martin in Vietnam last night, showing a Mother of two detonating bombs left over from the Vietman wars in the 60s, she was using her own common sense, as we should, it's what we have evolved to do, so please don't let a meme or statement on IG make you think a cue in yoga is going to break you!

Yoga pulls me back to reality. It grounds me. It helps me accept the highs and lows without being swept away by either. Becoming a yogi hasn’t made me super-spiritual or enlightened. I’m still human, gloriously so. Life still throws curveballs. Now I can catch them—or at least dodge them better.

Yoga has helped me sort through pain, face myself, stay steady. I’ve been through serious stuff since starting yoga, and I know I wouldn’t have handled it half as well before. No chance.

But you’ve got to want to understand yourself. Yoga isn’t just postures. The asanas are great, they keep us fit, but more importantly, they keep energy flowing. We’re like sponges for emotion, and if we don’t wring ourselves out now and then, we get heavy, stuck. Yoga squeezes me out... keeps me light, moving, honest.

There’s a buzzword storm around somatic movement these days, but honestly? You don’t need a trendy practice to “release emotion.” Just do yoga. Any yoga. When I started, there were no frills. No Instagram how-tos. Just a teacher, a mat, and commitment. That’s all you need.

Stick with traditional styles, Hatha, always does the the work. Don’t chase every fad. You can’t redesign a 5,000-year-old system overnight. Let it evolve, sure, but don’t lose the heart of it.

We’re getting a bit risk-averse. I saw a woman in Vietnam, a mum of two, defusing old bombs with her own instincts. That’s guts. That’s common sense. Don’t let an Instagram meme convince you a yoga cue will break you.

Hatha was my starting point, and it’s still my base. It’ll strengthen you, surface old stuff, and help you release it safely. But you have to show up. Two or three times a week. If studio time’s tight, take what you’ve learned and practise at home. Morning sun, garden, breath, get your energy flowing.

Yoga keeps me sane. Balanced. It brings pleasure, especially in out community. I love my yoga family. I'm not a big fan of online classes; I need real bodies, real energy in the room. (Online has its place, another post, again.)

Come down to the studio once or twice a week. It costs less than what we blow at Costa. Yoga is one of the cheapest, most effective ways to stay well.

And look, some days, I don’t want to go. I’m comfy on the sofa. But I’ve never left a class thinking, “Shouldn’t have come.” Never. It’s usually when I don’t want to go that I need it most.

So I don’t negotiate with myself about yoga. It’s like eating, sleeping and drinking water. Or calling my parents (hi Mum!). I don’t always want sprouts, but I know they’re good for me, or I risk offending the chef. Same goes for yoga.

At first, we fall in love with it. Then life gets in the way. We stop, and soon we’re stiff, stressed, not sleeping. So we come back. And realise: I need this. Every week. No question.

Because without it?

I turn into a bit of a twat.

Lots of love,
Tess xxx