Yogagility

I had been put off most forms of physical activity at school by a rather sadistic games mistress, whose idea of fun was cross country running on a cold winters day in heavy rain and mud, being battered and bruised by hockey or lacrosse sticks, and running endless laps of the school field on the hottest of summer days to the point of collapse. Consequently when I was eighteen and my mother suggested I go to a Yoga class with her I was less than enthusiastic. Attendance of the class did nothing further to encourage me to continue, I found the postures difficult, my body was stiff and unyielding, and I seemed to be breathing in when everyone else was breathing out, I couldn't co-ordinate my lefts and rights (a problem that still challenges me to this day), I couldn't make head nor tail of the Sanskrit terminology, I fidgeted through the relaxation sequence and found the whole experience quite stressful. I quickly deduced that Yoga was not for me.