"Movement Medicine"

I've been planning a post about yoga for a while, but I've been struggling to decide what exactly I want to say about it. It's been a vital aspect of my lifestyle for some time now, and I think for myself and many others out there, living through this period of uncertainty and "lockdown", yoga is proving even more essential to keeping sane, healthy and positive minded. So this post is simply my yoga story, thus far, and how the practice has helped me.

Winter yoga on the beach in Scotland

I started practicing yoga around 2014. I'd started a new job and was living some of my time with my partner in a small flat in the woods, with no internet or mobile phone reception. It was winter, and I didn't like running on my own in the dark due to a big imagination! So I bought a book and a DVD set by Tara Stiles and began my practice. I've always been sporty, but not bendy. This was a whole new challenge for someone who ran around a lot but never stretched afterwards, whose hamstrings were so tight that toe touching was impossible (I use the past tense but I still suffer from tight hamstrings. It's a long journey).

Finding a handy rock platform to practice some bendy poses in Lofoten, Norway. Photo by Ben McKeown

 As I have spent most of my life living in rural locations, I haven't been a frequent visitor of yoga classes. Whilst studying for a while in Aberdeen, I was able to go to three different yoga classes in a week and I still really miss going to classes. My practice is spent almost entirely at home, with a little help from youtube. There are so many amazing practitioners out there, and I've shared a few of my favourite ones at the bottom of this post.

Initially, I practiced yoga purely for physical exercise, but over time I began to benefit from the mental side as well. It really is movement medicine: movement for the body and medicine for the mind. After one particularly challenging year in a job which caused my confidence to dive bomb like an angry seagull, and my mental health to drip down the drain, it was my pre-bed yoga routine that enabled me to sleep at night, and to hold on to some belief in myself. I was surprised to discover that deep breathing alongside repeating the words I am enough did actually make a difference. Yoga really did help me through a horrible time.

Practicing yoga whilst on a surf holiday in Morocco. Even my toes hurt after hours in the water! Photo by Ben McKeown 

So what's next for my yoga journey? To learn more about the practice. Time to delve into some theory - if you can recommend anything then please get in touch! Hopefully, in time, I'd love to undertake some form of teacher training (ideally somewhere tropical and with looser hamstrings). All in good time :-) Meanwhile, I hope my home practice will encourage me to remain positive in these troubled times. 

In need of a yoga pick-me-up? Here are a few of my favourite youtube yoga flows/channels:

• Boho Beautiful - always set in beautiful locations, these often challenging flows are probably my most frequently visited.
• Cat Meffan - so many great flows by this lady, but I particularly loved her Yoganuary series.
• Yoga with Adriene - everyone's favourite yogi. This Balancing Ocean Flow is my favourite of hers.
• Lucy Foster Perkins - Lucy's Yoga for Surfers is brilliant. Choose from 10 minute or 25 minute flows.

A Time to Read

In these challenging and worrying times, we need to find enjoyment in the simple things. I'm grateful to have the woods and hills on my doorstep for my fresh air fix, but I'm also looking forward to reading more. I read a lot anyway, and constantly pick up new book bargains in the charity shops, so this is a chance to me to work my way through the book pile. For anyone who is looking for some new material to delve into, here are a few of my favourite recent reads.

Eat Pray Love - Elizabeth Gilbert
I read this a while ago, but my mind regularly wanders back to it. The author realises that her life in the city is no longer what she wants it to be, so she takes off to Italy to eat, India to pray, and finishes her adventure in Bali, where, surprise surprise, she finds love. It's spiritual, it's honest and it's entertaining.

Closer to the Ground - Dylan Tomine
When I started this book, I wasn't sure it would be for me. I was worried it would be too fishing obsessed. I absolutely loved it. Published by Patagonia books, it's a man's account though the seasons of how he and his young family try to live closer to nature in their home in the Pacific Northwest. They live a pretty normal life, but their time is spent outside fishing, cultivating crops and finding the next supply of firewood. It's really inspiring. 

Human Croquet - Kate Atkinson
My Mum and I are big Kate Atkinson fans. I think she's one of the best novelists out there, partly because she creates wonderful stories but she also writes brilliantly and there are always some laugh-out-loud moments. This is an early one of hers, about Isobel and her crazy family in a land once dominated by trees, and the mystery of her mother who went missing when she was only little. 

The Outpost - Dan Richards
I'd been hunting for this one for a while and finally picked it up in Tebay last month. Dan goes in search for the world's wild outposts, venturing to Norway, North America and Scotland amongst other places. Some chapters were more captivating than others (Scottish Bothies and caves in the Lofoten Islands being my highlights), and he's not quite up to the standard of Robert McFarlane, but it's an enjoyable and fairly easy-going read.

Swell - Captain Liz Clark
Another one I've had a while, but it's a fantastic publication from Patagonia Books and such a beautiful book that I won't let it go. Liz Clark is a Californian surfer and sailor who took off on her boat, Swell, which she largely sailed solo across the Pacific. It's an honest piece of writing, detailing the beauty of sailing the high seas and searching for perfect waves to surf, but also the many challenges she faced, from boat maintenance to assault and much more. 

With our internet facing increased use from people staying at home, give the broadband a break, curl up with a cup of tea and immerse yourself in stories from a world before Covid-19.