Since I began teaching yoga ‘full time’ I have always taken a few days out each year to retreat and reset. For the past few years I have found this space at a local well being festival where I could experience different styles of Yoga, breathwork, and meditation. I would always come back with something new, feeling confident my yogis would be excited by the new postures or workshops I had planned for them.

This year the festival did not take place, at first I was disappointed and looked around for something to fill the space. But as I became overwhelmed with the selection of retreats, well being festivals and workshops I began to realise I had perhaps lost sight of why I needed this time out.

I had become so focused on finding a new idea and keeping things fresh, had I lost sight of why I began practising Yoga – Hatha Yoga in particular?

I realised there was only one place I needed to go. No yurt in the wilderness for me. I booked my train ticket to Surrey, Sutton to be precise. Not known for its wellness festivals and retreats but it is where my Yoga teacher lives and runs her studio and was my ‘yoga home’ for 2 years. During this time I made the journey from Sherborne every month to learn why practising Hatha Yoga made me feel so good and how to share that with others. 

I hadn’t been back since 2019. I had stayed in touch via email but I allowed lockdown to break any intention to go back and visit regularly. So I treated myself to a room in the town centre Premier Inn and a selection of personal favourites from the M&S food outlet at the train station. Not the nurturing and nature based retreat of past years but the perfect space to review the business side of YogaSherborne without distraction. This left the following day for the really important part – space for me to find whatever it was I was looking for.

The Saraswati Yoga studio is a short walk away from the town centre in the suburbs. It is a simple ground floor studio and you would easily walk past not noticing it. As I joined the regular Saturday morning class I was greeted with hugs and smiles from people I hadn’t seen for years and thought would not even remember me. As I settled I became aware of my breathing, of how my body was feeling and where my head was going. 

I stayed on for the ‘advanced’ class. This is not just about flipping up into challenging postures. It is for experienced Yogis or teachers who are all human; illness, body shape, mental trauma it was all there and not every physical pose was executed to ‘instagram standard’. But we were able to find what works without fighting the ego. We knew when to hold longer and breath deeper because we had learned to listen and respond to our own body not just follow what we are told or had seen others do. We ended with introspective work – this month it was meeting our inner child and understanding how they can often hold us back. Sharing on this level with people in a safe space can be really freeing and I left feeling physically and emotionally lighter. 

Yes I did pick up some new variations to postures and flows to share with my classes but it was the shift inside that made the difference; a peacefulness and confidence in what I believe is the best way to share Hatha Yoga. A reminder that you’ll always find your way or it will find you if you stop and give yourself enough space.

This article was written for The Sherborne Times and can be found in the October edition on page 118.