Looking at this picture you may think you already know what I’m going to write. Perhaps something like – “My mother was a yogi from a very young age. She moves calmly through her day with ease and grace and is such an inspiration to me and taught me all I know.”
Well, the reality couldn’t be further from the truth! She did teach me a heck of a lot though, that’s for sure! Without realising it, my Mum was the catalyst for me starting yoga and an accidental muse as is the case with most good muses so I hear!
Family Yoga
You see, my slightly crazy and amazing Mum (think Dad may have been involved somewhere too?) decided to have 5 children. She then unofficially adopted another and if that wasn’t already enough, ran a family day care from our family home. Among all the hectic craziness of our loving home, I found I craved peace and quiet. I also had difficulty sleeping as there always seemed to be someone up and about. This is what brought me to yoga at age 11, suffering from insomnia. I used to stress out about the noise, mess & busyness of our home but quickly realised that it wasn’t going to go away.
Yoga For Stress Relief
As a self confessed person of action and an avid reader, I took to researching the problem myself. I was delighted to discover the joy of finding a place of internal quiet and peace through meditation, breath work and eventually the whole package in yoga. So, you see, I really do have my Mum and the whole of my family to thank including my late Dad and siblings Renee, Lisette, Melissa, Nick & Kerry. I really don’t mean to sound like our home environment was horrible, quite the opposite in fact.
So, when you come to along to my yoga classes, we don’t have a fancy, freshly decorated and peaceful studio dedicated to our yoga practice (although that would be nice!). We run classes in spaces where there are often other things going on outside of our control. This often comes with little disturbances that might intrude on our practice momentarily. However, I see these as useful opportunities to find that place of internal peace and practice for real!
Anyone can find calm in a quiet, comfortable space but does that really sound like your day to day life?
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About Charleyoga & Charley Hickey
Author: Charley Hickey C-IAYT is a practicing yoga therapist and senior yoga teacher who runs group and private yoga classes in Applecross, Bateman & Fremantle, Perth. She also runs specialised yoga workshops for yoga students & yoga teachers.