How to Introduce Yoga to Your Life

Last week I posted about how the lack of exercise brought on by my condition has drastically affected my self-confidence (read the post here). Now I'm here to tell you that it's not all doom and gloom. This week I want to share with you the silver lining to have come out of this situation- my discovery of yoga.

   Yoga. You might have heard of it? Right now, it's kinda the fashionable cupcake of the exercise world. In church halls and sports centres across the globe, men, women and children have been rolling out their multi-coloured yoga mats and contorting their bodies into 'down-ward dogs' and 'cobras'; tanned and toned celebrities have been posting carefully angled photos of their recently perfected poses on Instagram; and even my seventy-eight year old grandmother's at it. Why? Because it's bloody brilliant. That's why. Hailed for is reviving qualities and numerous benefits, yoga has quite simply put my life back on track. Focussing on both the mind and body, it’s not simply the physical benefits of yoga, such as an increase in energy and a decrease in muscle tension that make yoga the perfect gentle exercise for an ME sufferer- yoga can increase concentration and memory as well as aiding sleep and decreasing depression too! What’s not to love?

I've being yoga-ing for about eight months now. It was a key part of 2014's News Years resolution to finally start making some progress on the recovery front. While I cannot tell you the difference between different types of yoga (there's many- look it up!), I can attest to its healing benefits. Over the years I’ve tried pacing, relaxing, various supplements and so forth, but I really I feel that it's yoga that has had the biggest impact on my ME riddled life.

   I know, I'm kinda going in for the hard sell. I'm like a sales-woman, stopping at your door to offer you the latest miracle cure for all chronic illness. If only right!? Unfortunately that's not the case. While it does have many benefits, yoga is certainly not the miracle cure. But for people like me, with mostly moderate M.E, it can be a god send for helping us get back on our feet.

Exercise, Body Confidence and M.E

Hola! After a lovely week away in Spain with the family I'm now back in Blighty with blonder hair, browner skin and a fairly unpleasant travel hangover. Now I'm back on home soil I'm going to have to be taking extra good care of my body for the next two weeks to prep myself for my big American adventure at the end of August- I've got all my fingers and toes crossed that my body copes reasonably well with this, and if not, well I'll have a super carer to look after me in the shape of my boyfriend Jamie.

Clockwise from top left: All freckly in the sun, beautiful Estepona harbour, colourful patterns at the Spanish market, sunning myself by the pool

The lazy nature of my holiday and the pretty intense Spanish heat meant that I've spent most of the week lounging around in bikinis, which is what's led to the writing of this post. I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that we women are never more concious of our bodies than when in a bikini- it's like being in your underwear except you're on display for all the world to see. Now, while I'm fairly happy with my body most of time- I look in the mirror and take a 'yeah, you'll do' kinda attitude, I'm not as body confident as I'd like to be, and there's one main reason for this; yep you've guessed it, it's my M.E.

It's August...

Time flies right? I know I'm not alone in saying holy Christ how did we get to August? But I for one am incredibly glad it's finally here. 

July was a bit of a roller-coaster of a month for me- lifewise it's been great (I finally graduated!), but healthwise, not so much. While the first half of July was one of those wow! Even I can hardly tell I'm ill stages, the second half of July had me mostly in bed catching up with some old friends (the cast of gossip girl) and eating way too much cookie dough for my own good. So while it may have had some pretty momentous ups, I'm glad to see the back of July, not least because it means it's finally August!

Why am I so excited it's August? Because I've been anticipating it's arrival for such a long time- since I booked my flights out to America way back in the early Spring in fact and even more so since the 21st May. On the 21st May my boyfriend flew out to Boston to spend the summer living it up in the American sun (oh, and working to complete his masters of course), and on the 28th August, after fourteen weeks apart I'll finally be flying out to join him. And now that August is here, well I'm beyond excited. It'll be my first time in America, and while I'll have to do the cross-Atlantic flight alone, when I arrive I'll have very own personal tour-guide- since he arrived I've had my boyfriend sourcing out the best pancakes in town. Because with only three weeks there, a girls gotta sample the very best! 

It's gonna be pretty tough on my body, I know that. I know the repercussions are probably gonna be huge come September 19th when I touch back down on British soil (boyfriend in tow this time). But yes, as the popular saying goes- you only live once. And while I may not have been blessed with the healthiest body, I'm not gonna let that stop me living my life, seeing the things I wanna see and sharing these amazing experiences with the person I love most in the world. Even if it does mean a month in bed afterwards.

Eeeeeeee!

Until then? Well tomorrow I'm actually heading to the Costa del Sol for a last minute holiday with the family for a week of sun, sea, sand and simple relaxation. Last year my body shocked me by coping remarkably badly with the heat, but so far I've been coping pretty well in the glorious British sunshine we've been having of late. So I've got my fingers crossed that this year will be an improvement on last! And if not... well I've got an air-conditioned room.

All packed and ready to go

Right now I'm off to do a little pre-holiday pampering with my lovely new Barry M nail polishes. Catch you in a weeks time!

Alice

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