23/05/2019
Hello there! For those who are new to Yoku Yoga and are just joining our yoga family, I thought Iโd share a little about me...Your teacher and creator of Yoku Yoga ~ Iโm Alex ๐๐ป
I started my yoga practice with great hesitation at the end of 2013. I was very nervous about it all and not confident I could even โdo itโ as I had been suffering with a chronic back problem for 14 years. I had no flexibility, couldnโt touch my knees when standing up. That little bend was not an option ๐ฌ I had been to every kind of doctor and healer. Had all the tests. Nothing was really โwrongโ and yet that was not how my body was feeling. Soooo...yoga was next on the list. Honestly it felt like the last resort. And if it wasnโt the last resort, maybe I wouldnโt have stuck at it! I kind of just gave myself all the time in the world because I felt there was nothing else I could try to help heal myself.
I must say, I was doing a lot of inner work alongside this. I was changing my thought patterns, my long standing beliefs that no longer served me. It was not just a physical problem and I knew that. My physical self was a manifestation of my thoughts and associated vibrations and I became highly aware that my yoga practice was complementing the โreal workโ which was an inner job.
Moving my body in yoga was hilarious. I was so clunky (still am a bit ๐๐) and felt unsure and worried I would hurt myself. I was of course highly frustrated with not being able to โdo the posesโ but listened intently to my teachers always saying things like, โThis is YOUR practice. Donโt compare yourself to anyone else in the roomโ. The thing....THE THING....that really kept me around the camp fire (which I hear all the time now as a teacher) is not the physical asana practice! Itโs how you FEEEEEEL in yoga. Itโs the letting go. Itโs the mental chill out factor you get from focusing on the breath. That relief from constant chatter and in my case a lot of negative background noise I had going on was the greatest selling point for me. It brought me back to the mat like a healthy addiction.
Slowly, slowly my body relaxed. My flexibility and strength increased. This was just so exciting knowing that I was becoming the person I could see in my mind. I felt strong, I felt flexible and with that clarity in the mind, the body must follow.
And as I look back now, I have not had ONE SINGLE BACK ISSUE since November 2014. So that was a year of practicing yoga and changing my mindset and still experiencing some very painful stuff. Patience and optimism is the key. I hung in there. No problems whatsoever since end of 2014! Total freedom! It is truly exhilarating. I am so unbelievably thankful ๐๐ป
I chose to immerse myself in a 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training in Nov 2018 to enhance my own personal practice and to add this amazing yoga philosophy and physical practice to my teaching tool belt as someone who loves to help people step back into their personal alignment! It had such a profound effect on me and I so love creating the space for people to begin or continue their personal journey with yoga as a player in their evolution.
I love to bring elements of personal development into the classes I teach. Offering suggestions of how to reframe thinking and how we can mirror what we practice on the mat with our real world living.
I also find myself having a laugh in class and hope my students feel the lighthearted nature that I believe is where healing can occur. We donโt need to be serious to achieve anything. Alignment and happiness is felt when we chill out, smile more, laugh at ourselves and find peace with where we are at.
I hope to meet you all one day and flow with you in class.
Thank you for reading my little yoga journey so far. Yoga means so much to me. Iโm excited where it will continue to go. And Iโm equally excited to witness your yoga exploration and how it can benefit your lifeโs alignment.
Namaste ๐ง๐ปโโ๏ธ๐ฟ
