Although I have occasionally tried a couple of yoga classes, I have never done yoga as my primary source of activity. As an extremely inflexible, competitive person it did not seem like a good fit for me despite my mum being a yoga teacher. Due to the coronavirus restrictions my options for exercise became much more limited, so I tried practicing yoga with my mum and slowly started getting better and better. The style of yoga that I predominantly practice is Ashtanga, Ashtanga is a self-practice with a set sequence of six series which begin with the A and B variations of Surya Namaskara (sun salutations). Although there are six series, being able to complete all six is extremely difficult. For beginners, the usual goal is to complete the primary series (even this would take months of daily practice). What I have been practicing every other day is an adaptation of the primary sequence, moving from the sun salutations to the standing sequence and finishing with the sitting sequence and inversions. When practicing yoga by yourself there is an increased level of self-awareness and intent needed in order to remember how to do a pose and what pose comes next. Additionally, finding motivation in order to practice by myself is something new to me as I am used to being motivated by coaches or peers but with yoga it is entirely self-motivated.

After my practice at home I was able to attend a few mysore classes at the beach. In these classes you practice ashtanga with a teacher but they do not instruct you what to do but instead gives adjustments in order to improve postures. As yoga is not something that comes naturally to me I have experienced a lot of challenges in certain postures but have improved considerably since I first began over the summer. As well as the physical strength and flexibility yoga has helped with, it also helps me maintain a sense of self control over my exercise and to control my mind throughout my practice like meditation.