"Yoga has had an enormous impact on my life: helping me break out of the confines of society & heal mentally & physically
Working in the corporate world as a Manager, life was stressful & my work life balance was out of synch. I had everything society tells us makes us happy: house, car, career. But, I was disconnected from the 'real' me - carefree, spontaneous - conforming to expectations
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Becoming ill with a condition called Bells Palsy (where one side of the face becomes paralysed) is when I began to re-evaluate my life. Initially I was embarrassed with this very visible illness, & hid away – only going to places where my friends would accept me
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After 5 years of living with the condition & trying everything advised by the medical profession there was no improvement & I accepted it. It was as though I had given up
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The illness turned out to be a gift to help me change my life. I often ask the question if I had my life over, would I eliminate the Bells? To be honest I don’t think I would: it has defined me in ways I could not have imagined. I still have the condition & continue to heal in both mind & body
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I have become so passionate about body image. I realised that my body is a miracle – not something to be taken for granted like so many of us do
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Some years later I was made redundant: the best thing that happened to me as I don’t think I would have had the courage to take the leap. Being a yoga teacher was something that I thought I might do once I retired, but the universe had other plans
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The choice to teach came from a deeper sense of knowing – from my gut. When I talked about yoga I would light up & when talking about my job I was so monotone & negative. I decided to go with the flow & chose yoga & went to LA to study
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This thing called yoga was organically carving out another path for me that felt so right
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I was coming home to myself & listening to my inner voice & discovering my innate wisdom has been so liberating
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The change starts with you & then you will be able to change the world in whatever way you were meant to 💚 Donna"
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