Yoga & Pilates Day

So yesterday was my university's summer Yoga & Pilates Day 2015. It was at the university's main sport centre which I've never really had much use of, but I really think I should start utilising the facility a bit more. It is so state of the art in there, literally it is a professional place! So the day kicked off with an hour of really rather intense Pilates (I can feel the abs work today!) and then after a short break we had a holistic style yoga session, where our teacher went into the philosophy of the practise, and we focused on our breathing. Glen (our instructor) had some real pearls of wisdom which he bestowed on us. He said "If you can control your breath, you can control your life" and that "time spent on yourself is time well spent". He also mentioned the importance and value of developing "good practise" and good habits; it takes 90 days to form a habit. He said that every Thursday evening, he is on his mat, doing his own thing and it is good to get into a routine like that where if you miss a session of practising said good habit, you feel guilty because it is a built in part of your routine. With yoga, even though you typically go to a class and get instructed what to do, he said that it is important to be creative and what I think he meant was develop your own sort of routine; yes there are the classics like Sun Salutation, but it is good to mix it up with a bit of your own added flair and do what works best for your body.

Importantly, the importance of living in the moment was highlighted in this session. It is thoughts of the past or future which are typically the cause of our stress and anxiety, so bringing yourself back to the moment and restoring calm is very important and can be done by focusing on your breathing. Inhale confidence, exhale fear. He made us in pairs try and slap each others thighs which was quite literally hilarious and did bring me back to the hear and now I must say! We also did some sideways stretching around our partner which made me feel like I had a body guard which was amusing. He also said that if you always feel sad, pretend to be happy. Eventually you will feel happy. If you tell yourself enough, you will start to believe it, it is a self fulfilling prophecy. We sat in a circle towards the end of the session and he made us all hold hands. A very attractive guy was sat beside me so that was the highlight of my morning!

After my blueberry muffin lunch, we had a final session of yoga! 11-3:30pm was a rather intense day of stretching but well worth it and such a fab experience! So pleased I'm on the exec for next academic year!

Do you do yoga or Pilates, or any other classes of this variety?

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