It’s all going to be okay: a more mature Meg Jackson reflects on her
yoga journey and how it has evolved through the years
A
t the end of this month I’m going to be 41. This is a
shock to me. Perhaps it’s because the other day I was
talking about something that happened in 1998 and
thought it was 10 years ago. Obviously keeping track
of time is not a strong point.
What I have been keeping track of, though, is the journey that
stepping a tentative foot onto a yoga mat, all those years ago, has
taken me on. I forget sometimes that the relationship I’ve been in
with yoga is by far the longest one in my life, and there’s a load
of stuff I wish I had known when we were going on our first few
tentative dates.
So, these are some of the things I might pop back and say to that
girl before she first wandered into that church hall in Cheltenham,
hoping that this thing called ashtanga yoga would give her arms like
Madonna...It is okay to sometimes not do yoga
I know, controversial to say the least. Before you all come after me
with blazing yoga mats to chase me out of the shala, let me explain.
Of course, you will get to the really good, juicy, life-changing stuff
that comes with a yoga practice sooner if you commit to a regular
practice. Getting over the mental blocks we have to dragging our
body to class when it’s the last thing we want to do, spotting our
negative patterns when tackling challenging poses, and facing our
fears when stepping into a new unknown asana, are all elements
of the wonderful gift that having a committed, daily practice brings
to us.
For me, that has sometimes been part of the problem. The
potency of the practice has just been too much. It has held up a
magnifying glass to some of my less-than-positive stuff at times
when I just wasn’t ready to see it, or deal with it. So, in my own
experience, I’ve needed to take some time away from my mat.
Sometimes a few weeks, other times a couple of months, but I’ve
done so safe in the knowledge that I’ll go back to it.
My experience has been that yoga doesn’t punish me for turning
my back on it. It’s always there, waiting for me. Yes, my body may
ache a bit after my first few practices. There are times in those first
few days when it may feel like I’ve never done a downward facing
dog in my life, but I know that my strength will return, my hamstrings
will stop sulking, and that I’m back on the mat with a fresh desire to
reconnect with my body, mind, and spirit.It is okay to do things with your body that
are not yoga
When I did my first teacher training *cough* 11 *cough* years ago,
it was in ashtanga yoga. I loved every moment of it but, looking
back, I realise that the messages I came away with from those 200
hours probably didn’t set me up for the greatest relationship with my
practice.A letter to my younger self
Meg Jackson is the founder of Real Life Yoga, a movement to help
real people bring a little (or a lot) of yoga into their real lives. Join
her for the ‘Me Me Me Retreat: A Yoga Holiday All About You’ in
Southern Spain this month. And yes, there will be chuckling! Find out
more: reallifeyoga.net.
om mind om mind