How did you first get into yoga
Back pain got me to my first yoga class. I was working full-time in TV and though I loved my job there were some very stressful phases and my work involved a lot of sitting. I gave yoga a try after a colleague suggested it. I tried first with a book at home then by going along to a Hatha class at my local gym purely in the hope that it would help with my back pain. So the physical practice was my way in, as it is for many people. I was not even remotely interested in any of the other aspects of yoga then and certainly not the spiritual elements. Yoga absolutely did help my back pain, but what I did not expect was the deeper impact it would have. I always came away from a class feeling better than when I arrived, whatever was going on in my life at the time. It did not happen overnight, but as I practiced more I began to experience the positive effects away from the yoga mat. I responded differently to stressful situations at work and in my interactions with others. I started to become kinder towards myself too.