AN EXERCISE JOURNEY AND DISCOVERING YOGA

Partly because of the wedding last year (did I mention I got married?) and also because I just wanted to get in better shape and feel as good as I could about myself, I started doing a lot of exercise last year and I am very happy to say that I'm actually still doing it. This is probably the first time in my life where I have consistently kept up exercising on a regular basis and honestly enjoy doing it. Whilst at uni I did go through a phase of going to the gym quite a lot in an attempt to get healthier and tone up, but let's be honest when you're balancing out a gym session with then drinking your own weight in vodka and red bull and binging on hangover carbs the next day, I was never going to make progress very fast. Following on from uni I never really had the urge to do much exercise, apart from the odd attempt at doing the 30-day shred (I hate that bloody DVD) which inevitably ended after 3 days.

That was until last year. I started off running in January-February but, honestly, I just don't think I'm a runner! I've tried on a couple of occasions before and I know it takes time to get into the swing of it and actually start enjoying it (when, WHEN?!) but each and every time I would struggle so much with my breathing and pretty much end up hating every second. I kept going for a while and did get a buzz out of seeing my results on the Nike Running app on my phone, but it was never going to turn into a sustainable form of exercise for me. Who knows, maybe in the future. However, I wasn't going to give up on my quest to tone up and feel good! I did the odd HIIT workout on YouTube and dabbled in some yoga classes with a friend from work; these were really good for helping me make sure I was in the correct alignment and not just forcing the moves so we did those for a bit and also threw in a bit of PiYo (a combination of pilates and yoga which has more movement than yoga generally), more about the yoga in a bit though. Before I started doing this regularly, I threw myself into the fabulous workouts that Anna Saccone started uploading in May and honestly I absolutely love them! I have never stuck so consistently to any high intensity exercise before these videos and I've done each one many, many multiple times. If you are looking to get into exercise or just switch up what you're doing and haven't tried her videos (there are only 4 (non-pregnancy) workouts on her channel, who she does with Lucy her personal trainer) then definitely do it! They're really easy to follow, they're quick but bloody hard and you will feel AMAZING after. Throughout the whole of summer and autumn last year I was doing these workouts at least 3 times a week and was feeling like I was finally making some progress - it was such a good feeling. Towards the end of autumn heading into winter, when I definitely find that it can get harder to motivate yourself to workout when you'd just rather be curled up on the sofa with a glass of wine and Netflix on the TV, I wanted to add something else into my exercise routine and was craving something slightly less intense, and the appeal of yoga for the mind as well as body made me keen to properly give it a go.

Of course, the obvious place to go was the amazing Yoga with Adriene, I honestly love that woman, she is a true inspiration and I love how she doesn't take herself too seriously and is able to make yoga feel accessible. Because my focus still was toning up (my stomach is my main area of concern, I'm certain I'm never destined to have washboard abs but that won't stop me trying) I mainly did her yoga for weight loss videos which are pretty intense, throwing in some of her more restorative practices here and there as well. The difference I saw in my body after having done her videos for about two weeks was incredible. I felt stronger, my arms were getting more toned, there was a hint of some sort of definition in my stomach and, once again, I was amazed by how good I felt! The wedding day wasn't the main aim of my exercising but I did feel incredible on the day without a single worry about my body, which was a wonderful feeling.

After the wedding and honeymoon where I, obviously, didn't really do any exercise apart from walking what felt like hundreds of miles around New York, I didn't wait around to start doing Adriene's 31 Days of Yoga series when we were back. I was determined but cautious because I know what I'm like when I try and commit to something like this, I tend to forget or lose motivation, but I'm very happy to say that I not only completed the 31 days, but have continued to do yoga every day since. I can't tell you how amazing it feels to be able to see and feel yourself improving. At the moment I'm concentrating on doing lots of hip-opening sequences because I really want to improve my flexibility, and I'm also starting to delve more into the spiritual aspects of yoga because, really, I feel like I'm just at the beginning of this journey. The amount of time I've spent browsing Instagram's many yoga-related tags and seeing people's improvements in postures is probably a bit worrying, but it is inspiring me so much to want to improve and practice and just keep going. If you've never tried one of the videos on the Yoga with Adriene channel I would say go for it - she has hundreds of videos that range from the very basics (she has individual videos on many of the different poses) to specific yoga sequences for if you're feeling tired, motivated, angry, hungover (amazing) and so many more.

As I said, I'm really keen to look more into the aspects of yoga relating to the mind, meditation, connecting to the breath and body and generally just being more aware, and I am really excited to do so! Right, off to go and do a downward dog now so TTYL!

#lifestyle #exercise #yoga #life