8th September 2023
Yoga is community
Welcome to my first blog post and thank you for reading.
I've been trying to decide what to write here on this very first post and then today it came to me. My community. When I was doing my first teacher training we were asked what we wanted to achieve by teaching yoga. Living in a rural area I said I wanted to bring yoga to my community. My community consists of a wide area of small villages that are at least 10 miles from any kind of town or yoga offerings. Village halls were the way to go and as soon as I qualified I set up a schedule of local classes for my community. I wanted everyone to be able to access the same kind of yoga that you can access in a town or a city. I wanted it to be inclusive. No barriers to age, sex or race. No barriers to abilities.
Each little group started to form itself and with that brought it's own group energy and community. It was beautiful to watch. To see these people that perhaps had never met or would never have met find a common ground, find a community, have shared experiences and shared laughter. To watch friendships form. Most of these people had never practised yoga before. Alot of these people thought they couldn't practice yoga and now all of these people practice yoga together, as a community every single week. They share courgettes. They share books. They share themselves and they share their practice.
To be part of these communities is for me what yoga is all about. Today I asked each group for some testimonials for my website, I was absolutely blown away by them and so thrilled that I and each member of each group has provided support both physically and mentally to each other. Community. Because without it what are we? Community fills my soul and makes me feel glad to be alive. Yoga has provided a space for these communities.
Until next time, sending love to you my community, Sarah xx