Here's a little about me

Born in 1966

 Grateful to be living a healthy life  - and sort of enjoying my changing

 face and body (Lie) ha ha ha : ) 

My fitness career started 33 years ago, 

when I taught aerobic classes in Melton Mowbray. 

It was a shared business named 'The Hot Spot'  

Classes were busy, and great fun.

  I stopped teaching after I married and started a family; choosing to be a

full time Mum. My class members asked me when, or if I'd return. 

I told them if I ever returned to teaching fitness... it would be 

to teach Yoga. 

'Yoga?' They questioned ... Then fell about laughing!

Yoga wasn't a local thing at that time and certainly not accessible in a 

small market town

Thing is - during the following years I began to suffer from really bad back pain.

 I got to the point where I wouldn't stand if I could sit and I wouldn't sit if I 

could lay down. 

I was later diagnosed with a spinal disease called Ankylosing Spondylitis. I was 

pretty distraught to be honest, as I'd always been into fitness, but was

 finding I was doing less and less due to the constant pain I was experiencing. 

I was becoming more and more sedentary. I started to feel miserable and

negative. I became overweight and untoned.

Around that time, my daughter was also diagnosed with a serious eye condition.

 It was a big shock and a big change to our lives. As a family, we traveled

 to London once, and often twice a week for many years. 

Ellie had 10 operations in all. It was stressful and worrying and possibly

 due to the worry and stress of not only Ellie's condition, but the effect

 it was having on our son too. Meanwhile my pain continued to get worse.

To cut a very long story short, doctors at Moorfields Eye Hospital

 saved Ellie from losing her sight altogether, which brought on a massive

 feeling of wanting to 'give back' somehow to society.

So I attended a selection day and was chosen to train as a listener for

Samaritans, giving some of my time working from their local office in Grantham;

which two years later, led me to enquire, train and qualify

 as a Life Coach or Personal Performance Coach

Meanwhile, I became obsessed with  how I'd end up with the 'disease' I had,

 and pain I felt. 

I had private specialist appointments and lot's of medical intervention 

including wearing elasticated belts and painful spinal and hip injections.

Neither worked for me.

I was advised NOT to practice Yoga  because I was also told I was 

hyper mobile which was confusing, as it's a full contradiction to the disease

 I was diagnosed

Note: My advice on NO YOGA was given to me with a positive intent 

- however my Dr. clearly didn't realise there are different styles of Yoga

 which help us in different ways,....Plus he was definitely not a Yogi

So ...One day, out of the blue, I had a strange thought. 

I thought; in my current state,  'If I were an animal ...I would get eaten!'

yep

So ... I made the decision to do something, and that something

 was to start practicing Yoga. I joined a 'Yang' style of Yoga

(A 'Yang' style of yoga helps create strength)

It made sense to me that our bodies 

need movement and core stability to live a normal physical life. 

My Life Coach training was centred around personal growth, personal

 responsibility and taking small steps forward. So I put that learning 

into practice.

At the beginning it was uncomfortable as I was both stiff and weak

 - especially in my hips. Very gradually, I started to feel different

 and most importantly - stronger

Physically and mentally

Twelve months after 'throwing myself in' and committing to my whole self, 

 my pain began to disappear. It was like magic ...it really was. 

(When your pain disappears you struggle to remember what the pain felt like).

For a few years I had regular 90 minute MRI scans however in 2017 

my results showed that the 'disease' I had been repeatedly diagnosed; 

showed no markers at all! 

... Now there are many variables I realise. Do I still have the disease now? 

Did I have it at all?  Was I repeatedly misdiagnosed?

Did the disease burn itself out? Who knows. It just 'went'

As you might imagine - I was thrilled 

and  sold on the practice of Yoga. 

So I continue to practice Yoga daily and continue to be pain free : ) 

Result!!

I made the decision to use my previous teaching experience and 

knowledge, upgrade it, add my Personal 

Development/Life Coaching learning and insight, and train to become

 the Yoga teacher I said I would be all those years ago. Yay!

I booked a hall before I left, (For my first Yoga Class on my return),

 and then travelled to India alone, and lived and breathed Ashtanga 'Yang' 

Yoga for five weeks; residing in a little green wooden shed by the sea

There, I gained my accreditation with Yoga Alliance; the foundation

 and start of my ongoing Yoga learning. 

 I continue to Read, View, Challenge, Critique, Listen and Practice most days.

 It's a privilege to share my learning with you 

I remain humble knowing there are many others who know so much more

 than myself about this incredible practice and science. I am a lifetime student, 

just the same as anyone else   

My daughter Eleanor continues to battle on. Now 30 and in her 24th

 of living with her condition.  Ellie has monthly invasive treatments 

and continual medication. She manages a small, successful Brewery.

She makes me cry with laughter

My son Seb, works for Tesco. Never really got my head

around what he actually does for them -  lol. He's also a crazy Ironman.

He's a fitness machine, and doesn't seem to 

get puffed out! Finishes a race and just chats away!

I spent three years living on the Northern Beaches in Sydney, where I had the

 opportunity to work with some incredible Yogis. I even pumped into one of my 

Yoga teachers from India, whilst attending

 a class in Sydney!

Life is marketplace of learning 

Disclaimer 

      My back pain success story is unique to me. At no point can, or should I, 

recommend this to you. Please use your own diligence and with that, 

I recommend that you visit your 

practitioner or medical specialist should you have recently developed

 joint or muscular pain, before embarking on your Yoga journey.  

Thankfully, there is a lot of positivity around the practice of Yoga today. 

It is now frequently recommended by doctors, Physiotherapists and 

Mental Health Experts . 

I have found that my own practice has changed over time, to something

 much deeper; to the point where I have sat on my mat and been very honest with

 myself and what I want from my life and my own inner happiness. What my boundaries are, and what I believe is the best way to honour and love myself.

If you commit to your practice, the way you think will change. Your 

actions will change, and possibly your life will change too. 

Embrace Change. Change is the only thing we can be sure of.

Resilience is taught on our mats 

Your Yoga practice will support you physically as well as mentally

... more than you currently think