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Why it’s a good idea to join a yoga studio

January is such a funny old month, but mostly it’s people who are the funniest. We have a gullible sheep-like mentality.

Somebody in the media back in the day decided that come the first day of January we should be reinvented born again better versions of our pre-Christmas selves.

Dry January

Normally the first month of the year is anything but dry, it’s normally wet wet wet. And cold and windy, sometimes snowy and usually gloomy.

We are encouraged to stop drinking alcohol, which isn’t easy with all of the leftover Christmas booze lying around, The temptation is real. We are encouraged to swap our Prosecco addiction for a juice cleanse.

And I think that any encouragement to be healthier versions of ourselves is a good thing, I admire and applaud the sober community and am in awe of the strength and willpower it takes to give up an addictive substance.

But it’s Capricorn season

A month filled with family and friends myself included trying to get a little excitement going for what must be the hands-down winner of party pooper of the year in the zodiac for fun birthdays!

People are skint, the sales are on, the nights are dark and everyone is avoiding alcohol like the plague and on a diet or strict fitness regime or are simply just done with all the going out.

Happy birthday to me.

So I’m going to finish the last of the snowballs and cherry liqueurs and toast my fellow goats instead this year.

Back to yoga

Since I got addicted to yoga about ten years ago, I try to be consistent with my practice. I’m incredibly fortunate that I can find the time and the money to feed my addiction which calls me to the mat on average five times a week.

What is so great about joining a local yoga studio, if you get the bug as I did and you use the unlimited access to a wide range of different classes it’s fantastic value for money.

Keeping fit and healthy

After returning to class after missing a couple of weeks due to Christmas madness, my body really felt it! Good aches in places I didn’t know existed. Maintaining strength and flexibility takes commitment. Use it or lose it is a true saying. Luckily our bodies are miraculous and it doesn’t take long to get the fitness levels back up, it remembers what it’s capable of doing.

Every yoga teacher and fitness instructor starts the new year with a vengeance!

Just an idea but wouldn’t it be nice if after
A) running around like headless chickens for weeks on end to the point of exhaustion then
B) becoming a giant coach potato stuffed with carbs and sugar and too much telly

Our lovely fitness gurus could ease us back in gently. It seems child pose is not an option!

January should be the month of restoration and recovery and weaning ourselves off our vices gently. It’s too grim to go full-on cold turkey. As a month it’s not at all optimistic and fresh like March or April where we seem to have a spring in our step and just naturally feel more alive and energised.

This time of year I just want to hibernate.

But the new year resolution Gods get their way and come the first week of January the studios are full and everyone has their good intentions to be better at this thing we do. New active wear ( yoga leggs of course) and trainers will have you looking the part and inspire you on your fitness journey.

Just like a puppy is not just for Christmas, a yoga studio membership is not just for January!

Yoga studios are often small businesses run by passionate people dedicated to teaching and sharing their extensive knowledge of yoga.

They will build a community, a happy place for people to come and experience wellness. Be warned you will find friends.

A studio will offer a diverse range of different styles and teachers.

Kundalini, vinyasa flow, hot yoga, and yin yoga are all on the menu to sample.

You’ll probably be introduced to meditation and breathwork techniques that will aid your mental well-being.

Holistic Health

Alternative ways to manage our health concerns are rising in popularity and if you hang out at any good yoga studio for long enough you’ll meet some very talented practitioners. Reflexology, reiki, acupuncture, massage and nutritionists to name a few. Experts in preventive care.

As I get older with another birthday on the horizon I appreciate my body and all it can do. This outer shell that houses my soul is a blessing. With our NHS in crisis now more than ever we need to really look after ourselves. And I’m not knocking the likes of dry January and muscular people in tiny gym clothes motivating us to get fit, I’m just saying we can do it at any time, not just because it’s January.

Moderation and balance

Small steps are probably more realistic than trying to give everything up at once. Let’s face it failing miserably will just make us feel worse. The new you doesn’t want to be a bigger loser than the old you that you’re trying to dump.

Write a list of positive things you’d love to achieve in 2023 and cross them off throughout the year. I’ve gone back to cold showers and a twenty-minute meditation practice every day.

Wim Hof I hope this cold shower malarkey really works !!!!!

With all the talk of changes, we need to make we also run the risk of believing that we aren’t good enough as we are. That probably stems from some marketing campaign that wants to sell us something.

Maybe a good resolution would be to give yourself a break. Do your best when you can, which won’t be every day. To love yourself a bit more. No one that truly loves themselves wants to self-harm or self-destruct.

I want to say thank you to everyone at Fringe Yoga Epping for creating magic and keeping me fit. My happy place indeed.

Happy new year
Much love

PS. Please leave a comment below, to give a shout-out to your local yoga studio.
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