‘You have post traumatic stress disorder, well Complex PTSD to be exact’ said my therapist . That was the precise moment when my life changed & all the pieces of the puzzle finally fell into place"
. "My therapist then took one look at me and laughed. ‘You’re my first client who has ever smiled when I told them that!’ With a big grin on my face I replied ‘Well now I know what I am dealing with, I can learn to manage it and start my road to recovery’
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I turned to yoga in earnest when I developed spinal problems. interestingly it was around the same time that anxiety had hit me hard, followed by the odd bout of depression, and I started having flashbacks to my childhood
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I couldn’t understand why every time at the end of a yoga class when I was laid in Savasana I started to cry. I found it such a vulnerable and exposing pose. And now I knew why. The mind’s eye may not always see, but the body remembers every time
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Yoga has been my way of letting go of the trauma and learning to feel safe within my own skin once again. I wanted to share what I had learnt with more people, to spread the word about how life changing yoga can be, and so I signed up for yoga teacher training. I studied and learnt more and more about the effects yoga has on the brain: how wonderfully calming it is for the nervous system and how emotionally regulating it can be
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Over the years I have learnt what poses and types of practise benefit me most depending on how I am feeling. I have found my inner voice, learned to listen to myself, not push too much, but embrace, accept myself and develop compassion. Along the way I have shared my journey with inspiring people who fight battles on a daily basis that nobody would ever see
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Yoga is more than the self, it’s about connection and community, it brings people together and in this way yoga truly has saved my life, I hope it does for you too
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Namaste
Jo x
