I've practiced yoga for a few years on and off but I promised myself 2017 was going to be my year of yoga. I found so many benefits from practicing it not only for my fitness but also for mentality. This is my year to travel with Book Yoga Retreats after trying yoga in the mountains and in Scotland last year.
In my last post I talked about low impact exercise that elevates the heart rate to a fat burn level, this actually also applies to some types of yoga practice as well. One of the best feelings I get from yoga is not only do you feel strong, you feel switched off from everything else - something that I'm sure you'll agree is a rarity.
As I say 2017 is my year of getting back into yoga. With work changes and getting married I stopped, something I've really regretted. I am intending on getting back into it next month when I ultimately want to do a solo travel trip on a yoga retreat. That 100% is something I've eyed up consistently for the past 10 years, the photos call out to me, the tranquillity vibes beckon me and the fact I'd be going away just thrills me with the sheer thought! Ideally I'd love to to go on a yoga retreat to Thailand after visiting when I was younger, I remember seeing a big yoga group wishing I was part of it.
As I mentioned yoga works with the mind as well as the body, something that I actually believe is just as important. Even though yoga helps the body with more flexibility, lowering blood pressure, increasing circulation and of course helping you become stronger, it also really helps our minds. In order to achieve more we need to be in a good mental place, if you're stressed out doing an aerobics class it can go one of two ways, you'll either get the stress out from high impact or it will play on your mind. It might fade for a bit but then could return after the class, meaning you're back to square one. Yoga feels and teaches us the polar opposite. Due to the way yoga is taught, the entire lesson is calm regardless of how tricky the moves might be, as there is an ongoing stillness of the mind.
I went through a tough patch mentally between the time I was diagnosed with epilepsy. I didn't handle the life changing impact all that well and sort of got myself trapped in a dark mental hole. I honestly did everything I could to help myself get out of it and even started going to church to somehow feel like I had purpose. It helped but only temporarily and that was when I went to a yoga class near where I live. Initially I hadn't a clue what to do, but the mixture of ages all there to achieve this inner peace just like me, somehow made me feel part of something. Not only would I start to feel in control of my mind I felt part of this amazing community. Leaving a yoga class I feel like I've hit the pause button or that any mental mishap has had a chance to restart, which isn't like any feeling I get from any other sort of exercise.
Imagine that feeling of calm and now add a splash of travel and adventure?! That is what I'm talking about! So back to this yoga retreat idea I'd been looking at Book Yoga Retreats online, which might I add, has 4494 yoga retreats worldwide to chose from! So if you're indecisive like me, be prepared to keep looking for hours! If you're one of my UK based readers you could try to go to a UK based one first, (happy to even organize a few of us to go if people are interested) and then spread your wings after that. Combining adventure with yoga is possibly my perfect scenario, something I got to sample in Austria, and certainly something I'd highly recommend. I really want to be brave and just select a retreat and go... questions is which!
Do you practice yoga? Have you considered a retreat too?
*Post in collaboration with Book Yoga Retreats*
