I have changed in so many ways I never knew were possible thanks to yoga and meditation. 

Over time my flexibility improved and I could do things like put on my own shoes and enjoy laying in a hot bath again.

During the night I used to be in and out of bed trying to relieve the pain and stiffness, I could not remember having a good night’s sleep, yet, slowly even that improved.

Walking become a little easier and less painful, I started to visualise myself walking completely free of pain, and guess what, I still have arthritis, but now I very rarely have much pain.

Because of this I became greedy for good health and happiness and started to concentrate on other areas of my health.

My doctor had told me years earlier that the problems I was experiencing with my stomach were mostly due to stress.  At the time I thought if that’s the truth, then I am stuck with the problems as I could not change the things that I believed were causing the stress.

However, I leant that what we think and how we react to situations creates the stress and the stress in turn, creates the health problems.

I realised that I could use the techniques I had learnt in meditation to help me cope better with the stress and therefore alleviate the problems with my stomach.  And guess what again, most of the time I am free of problems with my stomach now too.

I am passionate about yoga and meditation because it helped and continues to help me live a wonderful quality of life.

 Linda

One of the greatest and most helpful techniques I have found is the form of meditation called Mindfulness.  It simple means being in the moment and that is more difficult then it sounds.

At first I found it very difficult and to be honest, a bit boring but I realised that something is only boring if you allow it to be, so I soon changed my attitude.  I practiced being in the moment over and over and I realised that this technique can be applied to almost anything and can in fact increase the pleasure in your life immensely.  I have now changed boring mundane jobs into fun activities using this technique.

I realised that my Yoga practice is in fact mindfulness because I am fully engrossed in it and no other thoughts intrude as I practice it. 

I have not always found it easy to fit in a full yoga routine every day, things have a way of coming up and taking my time.  I strive constantly to make time for myself as I know that my health and happiness is important, yet as a mother and wife I often find making the choice to help my family, overrides the choice to deal with my own needs.

Therefore, I set out to find ways I could build Yoga and the meditation technique called mindfulness, into my daily life without always needing to put aside large blocks of time.  For example, I will do some yoga postures and breathing meditations whilst waiting for the kettle to boil.  If I am stuck in traffic, I will enjoy the time by stretching out some of my muscles and practicing tension relieving techniques. 

Now when I am cleaning the house I put on music to help me enjoy the mundane jobs and I practice yoga dance methods.

I have found ways through yoga and meditation of making almost anything more enjoyable and at the same time increasing my energy levels, my fitness levels and my happiness and decreasing my pain levels

I am passionate about yoga and meditation because it helped and continues to help me live a wonderful quality of life.

Linda