I am a yoga lover. Nancy gym.

I am a yoga lover. Nancy gym.

I first started practicing yoga about 26 years ago. Sciatica made me do it. Over the last nine years or so, I have continued the practice online (daily wherever possible), and in the comfort of my bedroom, lounge or garden. I incorporate it into my morning time, before the household wakes up. I especially love the Yoga with Adriene (YWA) Youtube channel, where you will find videos for beginners, intermediate and advanced; as well as yoga for grief, weight loss, anxiety, depression, sciatica, courage, for a new start, for when you feel ill, to heal the gut... you name it, she has it on her channel.

YWA also presents a 30-day programme in January each year, but you can jump in at anytime. It’s a great way to re-set with a supportive online community.

“...we bought all the myths that advertising and other money-making industries would feed us: ‘no pain, no gain’; choose artificial sweeteners over natural sugar; choose margarine over butter and olive oil...”

I grew up in the ’80s aerobics era... Mom and I used to do the Jane Fonda videos (on VHS cassettes!) or LPs, complete with leotards and leg warmers! Ai. It was the Canderel era where we bought all the myths that advertising and other money-making industries would feed us: “no pain, no gain”; choose artificial sweeteners over natural sugar; choose margarine over butter and olive oil; zero carbs, and diet tablets and shakes works better than real food and nutrition. There was very little education of the various systems, much less our microbiome or the circadian rhythm that govern our daily health.

As I grew older, and as health issues arose, I had to learn to work with my body, not on it, as if it’s something to beat and batter into shape. I have learned that I can go at my pace, that everyone’s body and constitution is different. No competition.

Yoga allows me all of this and has thus become a life skill and tool for healing that I can do anytime and anywhere. No WIFI required, once you know the positions.

“Fasting is a potent form of medicine for the body under the right guidance, but many a constitution requires almost constant grazing for good fuel and a source of energy...”

For the same reasons, I also see “diet” simply as my lifelong commitment to eating healthily. Natural, unprocessed carbs are my friends. Good, healthy fats are my friends. No diets, no fasting (for health reasons), not even intermittently. Ek sal omkap sonner kos. Fasting is a potent form of medicine for the body under the right guidance, but many a constitution requires almost constant grazing for good fuel and a source of energy – and as we grow older (women in particular) our endocrine, nervous and other systems are very dependent on consistently well-balanced nutrition to function well.

So I make sure to be kind to myself and eat a good, natural diet all the time, embracing treats, when I do have them, with enjoyment and no guilt. And no eating after 8 pm, because I simply don’t need the energy at the end of the day.

I am listening to my temple and how it works. This way it feels like love and healing entering my body when I eat, without it feeling like a transaction, a push and pull between punishment and deprivation, “allowed” vs. illegal. That doesn’t feel kind.

We are in the era of self love now and it feels really good.

Mom never got into yoga, but she practices tai chi daily. We find we cannot do without these gentler forms of exercise now. They work from the inside out, offering a kind of internal massage for vital organs, balancing the hormones, improving sleep, detoxifying the body, strengthening the cardiovascular system, calming the nerves, bringing good sleep, kick starting the metabolism, creating stamina and sculpting the muscles.

She has no blood pressure issues any more and with the guidance of her doctor is being weaned off chronic pills because she just doesn’t need it anymore.

I am not dissing gym or slimming diets, ek sê ma net, we have options to choose from to suit the liquorice all sorts of our beautiful bodies. Movement is key. Knowledge is key.

Am I sounding preachy? I wish us all good daily fuel for our engines and self love all year long.