Humans Doing Yoga
Ricky
"Every time I see someone
I haven't see for a while they
comment on how straight
I'm standing up or how tall I am.
I can often walk around the house without walking sticks."
Pauline
"I enjoy the focus. You're not bothering what anyone else is doing. You're more concentrating on yourself and doing the best you can do with the body you've got."
Sam
"The physical postures helps open up my joints and keep them moving and warm."
Margaret
"It's been a lifeline. it's helped with stress. I feel like I'm back in control of my body again. I'm the one controlling it and I really like that feeling."
Lauren
"When I started going (to yoga), my life at that time was really busy, so the classes felt like such a relief from a really chaotic life. I would go into the yoga studio and it was the only thing I did for the whole time. The time passed without being aware of the time."
Fiona
"It gives me tools to use to level my emotions without reaching for an external source to help."
Kit-Har
"It's an hour and a half of time to unwind and forget all the things around us."
Joan
"My mind is race, race, racing when I get to class and then, I think, this is my chance, my time to actually relax and unwind and let everything go."
Fiona
"Yoga is for everybody and anybody and it doesn’t matter because there is always something you can do. There’s always a way to change the poses."
Diana
"It makes me stop and relax, stretch. The mindfulness at the end - I just let anything come into my head and it's great what sometimes does come into your head."
Kim
"There was no social media when I started. I remember trying to get a book out of the library, but it was so complicated, I had no idea. My teacher was in her 40s, she wore a leotard with stretchy leggings. She had an air of mystery about her. At that time, all the ladies were of a similar age and they all wore leotards."
Claire
"I'm in my own head a lot and when I do yoga it brings me back down instead of having me all up in the air."
Dierdre
"Yoga just makes you feel grounded but you feel your whole body is awake."
Alison
"I found it (yoga) very healing. It was a time where I could just completely relax. It would be one of the few times in my day that I could. At that time I was struggling a lot with severe pain."
Annie
"It just makes me feel great, and chilled, and relaxed. It's a really good workout as well which surprised me."
Angela
"I have that strength to know I can rely on my body because it's strong - it's a really good thing as you get older."
Maria
"I started when I was about 16. I was quite into athletics then. It was a way of making sure the muscles were stretched and keeping flexibility. I wouldn’t like to guess what age my teacher was at the time, but I kept thinking to myself, if I can still move the way she can (she looked amazing) I’d be quite happy when I got into later life.”
Colin
"You start to hear your body talking to you. It's nice when you're standing there, you can feel the stretch, you can feel your muscles moving."
Ellie
"I'm definitely feeling a lot stronger in my body. I used to put my back out a lot. I haven't done that for a long time."