It’s a warm North African evening on a rooftop deep in the Marrakesh medina. I’m lying supine on the smooth tadelakt floor, surrounded by my fellow retreaters. We’re about to start our evening yoga practice, and I feel like I’m coming home. But it’s been over four years since I was on the mat… over four years since I last did a yoga class, or indeed any yoga at all.
Why? Well, life had mostly got very busy and stressful, due to a succession of largely thankless jobs, growing professional seniority, and many hours spent at a desk. I was too busy to notice, but I was sinking and becoming consumed by the spiralling pressure. Exercise, including yoga, became just another thing on an ever-lengthening to-do list.