How did I get here? This is the blog post that I wrote in 2019 when I began studying with the lovely Harriet in Oxford

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I am going to be 50 this year. How did that happen? How do I feel? I don’t feel middle-aged which is probably a good thing. I am still able to read signs and labels (provided it is light enough and my arms can stretch far enough) and I just set up my new phone and laptop by myself which felt like a huge achievement. Conversely, I do have to wear varifocals, hangovers last forever, and my hips ache when I sit for too long.

I started doing yoga just over 3 years ago when a gorgeous hot yoga studio with the softest reception carpet opened up near my home in Maidenhead (thank you Inspire Hot Yoga and lovely Clare!). I had never even thought of doing yoga before – I was more of a gym-and-boxing kind of person, and yoga was (in my opinion) not even worth doing. But the lovely new yoga studio enticed me in with a special offer on classes. First couple of classes I was a bit indifferent, but suddenly, in the third class, the heat wrapped round me, I took in deep breaths, I stretched and flowed and I was hooked!

Roll forward to today; over 3 years of regular practice at various locations in many different forms of yoga from Yin to Power to Ashtanga to Hiit and everything in between. I am stronger and stretchier, my mind is clearer, and there is nothing about yoga that I don’t love – well apart from inversions and arm balances, and I am even getting a healthy respect for those. I have met the most wonderful, inspirational teachers and students, and we have laughed and cried and cheered in a way I had never experienced before.

So that brings me to the point of this blog. I decided at the end of 2018, with the support of my lovely husband, to embark on a 200TT so I can spread the love. I am definitely not your typical young, gorgeous, instagrammable trainee. However, I feel so aware of what yoga does for my older and more forgetful mind, as well as my achy, creaky body, that I feel the need to share this with as many as people as I can.

In January I embarked on a flexible course at Yoga Quota, and I am quite frankly loving every minute of it. I have been amazed by the sheer mind-blowingness of what I am being taught. The (as I call them ) ta da (with jazz hands…) moments are numerous. From learning that proper alignment is what works best for my body, and that downward dog is most effective for me when my knees are bent to intense discussions on the yamas, my mind and body are being stretched in a way they have not been for many years.

My class mates are completely wonderful and supportive group of people, and the teachers and subject matter and materials are all more than I could have hoped for.

I hope to qualify by the end of September 2019 – this is my 50th birthday present to me. I will balance the training around a challenging new full-time job, my animals, my family and friends, and luckily the course is accommodating enough and I have great support to make this possible.

So, what will happen when I have completed the course? I don’t know and it doesn’t really matter. What I do know is that the process and practice are certain to be unbelievably fulfilling.