My Yoga Blog

My Yoga Blog gives insights and thoughts on yoga practice, philosophy, meditation, wellbeing, creating habits that serve you and the yoga community.

This month our 'Spotlight on...' is on the wonderful Julie Irving .

Name: Julie Irving
Age: 58

How do you know Jordanna? I first met Jordanna when she came to deliver a Fit Villages Yoga course in Risby last summer.

What motivated you to start practicing yoga?

I was interested to try yoga again after a back injury had made Pilates uncomfortable, and although I am avid walker I felt I needed to do something more to maintain muscle tone and improve my overall balance.

How has yoga positively impacted your life?
Gardening and home decorating are also hobbies I enjoy and I feel that yoga has had a positive impact on these by maintaining agility and strength.

What's your favourite yoga pose?

Whilst I don’t really have a favourite yoga pose I’m enjoying learning new sequences and challenges each session. Exploring the science of the body. The chakras has been both fascinating and thought provoking and prompted me to read more about it.

How does yoga influence your mental and emotional well-being?

My time spent practicing yoga offers an opportunity to completely engage mind and body and to reconnect with myself, sometimes it’s just not possible to do that in everyday life. As my family are grown up and my parents have sadly passed away, for the first time, in a long time I have the opportunity to  invest in self care and I feel yoga is a perfect channel for this.

Yoga, learning and growth, quotes and community.
I have found meditation a useful tool to allow myself to fully relax and “make some space”, it’s definitely a habit I’m trying to nurture as a way of dealing with all manner of life situations.

What I’m also learning about yoga is that the practice is simply about the individual and their own experiences, it’s not about judging or comparing but just being there is enough.
I love this quote…. “ a flower does not think of competing to the flower next to it, it just blooms”. 🍁

For anyone thinking of trying yoga I would definitely say just give it a try, it’s a really friendly and relaxed atmosphere and socially rewarding, it seems like-minded people are somehow drawn together.

I recently started pottery classes, something else I’ve always wanted to do and now the tutor has joined our yoga group also!

And so my yoga journey continues, who knew spending time on a mat on the village hall floor could develop into something really special.