Amy’s Yoga Journey

At 16 years old I had my first taste of Yoga when my mum suggested we try an 8 week Yoga program. Back then, I had never connected with the asana but always loved meditation. I would say ‘I can’t wait until the end of class when we can lie down with the eye pillows and blankets’. Although at the time I never understood the benefits behind meditation, I loved the concept of giving yourself that space where the mind and body can relax and be still while being conscious. 

Life took a turn

After the program, life got really busy, I did the occasional yoga class here and there, but it wasn’t until my world was turned upside down and I hit the depths of despair that I turned to yoga. I was a first time mum to a beautiful little girl, who had some health concerns from birth. Since giving birth, the stresses of dealing with an unwell baby and getting no sleep for months and months on end, my body eventually shut down. I remember one of the days I was lying in bed in the middle of the day while my daughter slept. I could barely move my body, and my joints were riddled with inflammation. Everything I ate seemed to make the inflammation worse, with mouth and nose ulcers and chronic fatigue just to name a few. At this point, it was a regular occurrence and every day the symptoms just seemed to get worse. 

The turning point

I remember lying in bed crying, thinking ‘I have no idea how I am going to make it through the rest of the day looking after my baby until my husband came home’. My next thought was ‘NO YOU CAN’T KEEP LIVING LIKE THIS, YOU HAVE A BABY WHO IS RELYING ON YOU! IF NO ONE ELSE CAN HELP YOU, YOU HAVE TO HELP YOURSELF’. 

I didn’t know where to start. I had been prescribed some medication and painkillers, but I had made the decision that was not the path I wanted to go down. I remembered I had a mindfulness book that I had never read. This book helped me to reset my mindset and provided tools for being in the present moment, including yoga. It gave me a base to work from, and it gave me hope.  

I made some big changes to my lifestyle, including my diet, and every day while my daughter slept, regardless of the pain I was in, I would get up and practice asana (just on YouTube) and meditate afterwards. 

Although I didn’t know exactly how or why it helped, I just knew it always made me feel so much better. 

It was a slow progress, but everyday was feeling better than the last. I could feel my body was no longer as tense, my physical symptoms were becoming less severe, I was listening to my body and became aware of my triggers, and my mind was becoming a lot clearer and brighter. 

Two years later…

Two years after beginning my daily practice, my yoga journey had transformed me physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, in so many ways I would never have imagined. It took a broken soul and put it back together again, still the same soul but so different, with much strength, direction, gratitude and acceptance. Yoga gave me the space to reflect, to acknowledge, to accept, to heal.

A new direction is born

Upon my reflection I decided my goal, my direction in life would be to assist other people in discovering yoga, to help them adapt yoga into their life through becoming a Yoga teacher in hopes that one day it will be able to help somebody like it helped me. 

It’s ironic to think the best thing in my life, my little girl, and the worst thing in my life, my autoimmune disease, both lead me on this path of finding yoga and becoming a yoga teacher, and for that I am forever grateful. 

Studying with TYI

My year studying with the Yoga Institute has been amazing. It has put all the yoga puzzle pieces together for me, I have learnt the true understating of yoga and the exposure of just how much depth there is to it. I now know all the ongoing benefits to yoga and understand how it assisted me through my trying times. 

This year I have built some beautiful relationships with inspiring, like-minded people at The Yoga Institute. It is so refreshing to share, learn and talk with people who love yoga just as much as you do! I have learnt so many new techniques and teaching concepts I can incorporate not only into my personal practice, but can use when I commence my yoga teaching.

I have complete confidence that by the end of my studies this year, I will be confident and competent in achieving my goal of becoming a yoga teacher. 

Amy’s future and dreams

My dream is to break the concept that ‘yoga is only for the physical body’, to show people that yoga is so much more! My dream is to introduce people to yoga, to help them discover the benefits of yoga, and to guide them on their yoga journey. I plan to teach group yoga classes, teach one on one sessions, develop personal practices, and build meaningful relationships with clients and other like-minded yogis! After becoming content in my teaching abilities, I plan to do more yoga courses in the future and learn as much as I can about Yoga.

For me yoga is no longer just a hobby, it is now a way of life. I have only just started my journey, and I am so excited to see where it takes me!

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