My journey so far...

Karen Clarke | DEC 9, 2021

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Whoa!! This is new to me, a blog post! Here is a little bit about my journey to yoga so far. Enjoy! I have often thought about how to document my yoga journey but never been able to put it into words. Today, I am taking the time to put my thoughts down for you all to read. I guess that it’s been difficulty to write because when I have the space to think about what I want to say, I’m either in the car driving or travelling. I do remember getting my phone out on one trip and hitting record and sitting my phone in the cup holder of my car and blurting out everything I wanted to say only to get to my destination and realise that I wasn’t recording at all. I figured my story wasn’t to be told that day. But here I am, finally putting my story out there. Yoga was always something I wanted to try, but having little kids, it made it difficult to get to classes and sometimes the times didn’t suit. Until one day I made a decision. I made the decision that it was time to take some time for myself, time for me. My body felt like it needed to have a good stretch, I was holding so much tension in my body. I had been through a pretty rough time in my life and needed to do something for me. So, I booked into a New Year’s Day class at my local yoga studio, Perhaps the only thing that stuck in my mind that day was the instructor using Sanskrit in class and oh my goodness…chaturanga!! I remember thinking to myself, what on earth have I got myself into! But that right there was where a flame had been lit inside of me and no way did I think it would grow as bright as it is today. I began to fall in love with yoga, the feeling of stillness inside me, the warm tingly feeling that my body felt, the calm feeling that my mind felt, the fun, the laughter and at times the challenges that yoga presented to me, not only physically but mentally as well. I went to regular classes and made some wonderful friends along the way. I began to consider deepening my understanding of yoga for my own practice and had a chat to my instructor about a yoga teacher training. I searched and searched for a few years, trying to find the right one. I had a certain criteria that needed to be met, I did have little kids at home after all. I eventually came across a yoga teacher training right in my own back yard of the snowy mountains in NSW and it ticked all my boxes. I contacted the lovely Georgie but unfortunately, she had just completed her offering for that year and wouldn’t be holding another one for another 12 months. I thought to myself, a lot can change in 12 months, but I kept in touch and when the offering came up for the 2019 training. I found every excuse that my conscious mind could come up with, trying to convince myself that I didn’t really need to do it, but I knew deep down it was something I really wanted to do. All the if’s, but’s and maybes came to mind and as it turned out, a LOT had really happened that year. I eventually made the leap and began preparing to attend my yoga teacher training in November 2019. The funny thing is that I was never going into the training with the thought of coming out and being a yoga instructor, I was only ever doing it to deepen my own understanding and practice of yoga. I was doing it for me, not anyone else. 4 weeks in my favourite place in all of Australia, the snowy mountains. Learning all about yoga, was one of the most amazing times of my life. This was something I had never done before. I had never been to something like this by myself, it would have been generally something I would have done with friends or at least known someone else who was going. I knew the moment that I walked into the yoga shed I felt the warmth of that little fire that I lit all those years ago as it began to burn much bigger. I learnt so much in that time not only about yoga but also about myself. Many friendships were made with people who I had never met before and are now lifelong friends and for that I will always be grateful. So much fun, so many kebabs and wings, oh my gosh the laughter! Some days my ribs would hurt so much from laughing. I fully emersed myself into the training and soon realised that I was then committed to yoga, I was in for a lifelong journey. The day that I walked out of the yoga shed, I knew what I had experienced in my time there, was too good not to share with people and now I had the ability to do so. Sometimes I would wonder what my purpose may be in life, but now I had purpose. Once you allow that space within your mind and your body for expansion and personal growth whether it be through attending yoga classes or whatever it may be that lights you up. Once you allow that space, amazing things happen. The stillness within my body and my mind was something that I had never felt before, to that extent. I would feel it in the yoga classes that I was attending, but once or twice a week was clearly not enough. What is that stillness you ask… the stillness is… quiet in the mind and in the body, so quiet that you can hear your own heartbeat. Have you ever heard your own heartbeat before? The feeling of the energy running through your body but floating at the same time, the feeling of moving your body like you love yourself and being authentically you. This is the feeling I wanted to share, the calm amongst the crazy busy world we live, the feeling of being present when life is spinning around you. Yoga is a service to the people in my community and around me, whether it be online or in person. Instructing hasn’t been an easy ride, it began with bushfires and then covid and still covid, but it hasn’t wavered my passion, my drive, the excitement I feel when I instruct a class because I know what it’s doing for the people that attend. I know how it feels because I was once them, I was once attending yoga classes just for a stretch. Now, I have a much better understanding of yoga and I look forward to sharing my knowledge and passion to whoever wants to listen and take part. If you have made it this far, thank you for being here and reading my story and I hope you visit again sometime soon!

Whoa!! This is new to me, a blog post!

Here is a little bit about my journey to yoga so far. Enjoy! I have often thought about how to document my yoga journey but never been able to put it into words. Today, I am taking the time to put my thoughts down for you all to read.
I guess that it’s been difficulty to write because when I have the space to think about what I want to say, I’m either in the car driving or travelling. I do remember getting my phone out on one trip and hitting record and sitting my phone in the cup holder of my car and blurting out everything I wanted to say only to get to my destination and realise that I wasn’t recording at all. I figured my story wasn’t to be told that day. But here I am, finally putting my story out there.

Yoga was always something I wanted to try, but having little kids, it made it difficult to get to classes and sometimes the times didn’t suit. Until one day I made a decision. I made the decision that it was time to take some time for myself, time for me. My body felt like it needed to have a good stretch, I was holding so much tension in my body. I had been through a pretty rough time in my life and needed to do something for me. So, I booked into a New Year’s Day class at my local yoga studio, Perhaps the only thing that stuck in my mind that day was the instructor using Sanskrit in class and oh my goodness…chaturanga!! I remember thinking to myself, what on earth have I got myself into! But that right there was where a flame had been lit inside of me and no way did I think it would grow as bright as it is today.

I began to fall in love with yoga, the feeling of stillness inside me, the warm tingly feeling that my body felt, the calm feeling that my mind felt, the fun, the laughter and at times the challenges that yoga presented to me, not only physically but mentally as well. I went to regular classes and made some wonderful friends along the way. I began to consider deepening my understanding of yoga for my own practice and had a chat to my instructor about a yoga teacher training. I searched and searched for a few years, trying to find the right one. I had a certain criteria that needed to be met, I did have little kids at home after all. I eventually came across a yoga teacher training right in my own back yard of the snowy mountains in NSW and it ticked all my boxes. I contacted the lovely Georgie but unfortunately, she had just completed her offering for that year and wouldn’t be holding another one for another 12 months. I thought to myself, a lot can change in 12 months, but I kept in touch and when the offering came up for the 2019 training. I found every excuse that my conscious mind could come up with, trying to convince myself that I didn’t really need to do it, but I knew deep down it was something I really wanted to do. All the if’s, but’s and maybes came to mind and as it turned out, a LOT had really happened that year. I eventually made the leap and began preparing to attend my yoga teacher training in November 2019. The funny thing is that I was never going into the training with the thought of coming out and being a yoga instructor, I was only ever doing it to deepen my own understanding and practice of yoga. I was doing it for me, not anyone else.

4 weeks in my favourite place in all of Australia, the snowy mountains. Learning all about yoga, was one of the most amazing times of my life. This was something I had never done before. I had never been to something like this by myself, it would have been generally something I would have done with friends or at least known someone else who was going. I knew the moment that I walked into the yoga shed I felt the warmth of that little fire that I lit all those years ago as it began to burn much bigger. I learnt so much in that time not only about yoga but also about myself. Many friendships were made with people who I had never met before and are now lifelong friends and for that I will always be grateful. So much fun, so many kebabs and wings, oh my gosh the laughter! Some days my ribs would hurt so much from laughing. I fully emersed myself into the training and soon realised that I was then committed to yoga, I was in for a lifelong journey. The day that I walked out of the yoga shed, I knew what I had experienced in my time there, was too good not to share with people and now I had the ability to do so.

Sometimes I would wonder what my purpose may be in life, but now I had purpose. Once you allow that space within your mind and your body for expansion and personal growth whether it be through attending yoga classes or whatever it may be that lights you up. Once you allow that space, amazing things happen. The stillness within my body and my mind was something that I had never felt before, to that extent. I would feel it in the yoga classes that I was attending, but once or twice a week was clearly not enough. What is that stillness you ask… the stillness is… quiet in the mind and in the body, so quiet that you can hear your own heartbeat. Have you ever heard your own heartbeat before? The feeling of the energy running through your body but floating at the same time, the feeling of moving your body like you love yourself and being authentically you. This is the feeling I wanted to share, the calm amongst the crazy busy world we live, the feeling of being present when life is spinning around you.

Yoga is a service to the people in my community and around me, whether it be online or in person. Instructing hasn’t been an easy ride, it began with bushfires and then covid and still covid, but it hasn’t wavered my passion, my drive, the excitement I feel when I instruct a class because I know what it’s doing for the people that attend. I know how it feels because I was once them, I was once attending yoga classes just for a stretch. Now, I have a much better understanding of yoga and I look forward to sharing my knowledge and passion to whoever wants to listen and take part.

If you have made it this far, thank you for being here and reading my story and I hope you visit again sometime soon!


Karen Clarke | DEC 9, 2021

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