I have just completed a week of yoga in Spain. Usually when I go away I find a BJJ gym and train while I am on holiday. This is usually great fun and I meet a lot of great people. Sometimes I go to camps, other times I find little schools in interesting places. This time around I wanted to try not doing BJJ for a week. I love training holidays but is my day job, so doing it when I’m on holiday feels like I’m working.
During lockdown I started doing yoga classes online. This had been something I wanted to add to my training as I figured its good for mobility and hey, it’s useful to be more flexible. I am also not getting any younger and this might be a new skill that will buy me some longevity in BJJ. I have a friend called Liz I met before lockdown and she was a yoga teacher, so I decided to give her class a go, she works at The Yoga Shed in Hitchin. From what I saw of her instagram it looked pretty good, so I signed up with a goal to doing yoga everyday.
I mean we were stuck at home, so it wasn’t too much to ask, in between Netflix, working on my right wrist strength and stuffing my face full of Ferrero Rocher, I thought it might be good.
I also believed that my amazing black belt skills would mean I would have the balance and grace of a gazelle and the shoulder strength of an orang-utan, do they have strong shoulders? They must do right? Well they probably do, but it seems I don’t, yoga hurts, especially at the start. It reminded me of my first classes at BJJ, where you think you are breathing but you are either gasping for air or holding your breath, while squishing yourself into some pretzel shape and trying to be comfortable.
A few months went by and I kept to my yoga schedule, I learned that my room was too small sometimes and maybe balancing next to a flat screen TV isn’t always a good idea, I fell a lot and had a teacher laugh when I did, but I felt improvements. I learnt the difference between downward do and upward dog, I realised how much it hurt holding positions for a long time while balancing on your toes and twisting at odd angles. I was getting yoga! I started to understand the attraction. It reminded me a lot of BJJ but rather than someone else forcing you into uncomfortable situations, you are forcing yourself into uncomfortable situations. Ok I am not great at being present, I used to cheat and put my phone at the top of the mat off camera so in some positions I would check my instagram likes, but generally I was improving and it was a good way for me to start.
This all led me to the yoga retreat. Like I said at the start, I just wanted a non BJJ trip and so I booked this retreat two months before I went, luckily the planets aligned and they let me travel. I figured the worst case scenario would be that I end up by the pool with a nice cold drink and possibly do some yoga classes, this scenario would kick if I’d find out that all yoga people are vegan, anti vaxxer flat earthers. Fortunately for me or unfortunately all the people on the group were pretty much similar to Wave people, they were chilled, they enjoyed a drink and they talked about movies, food and the crazy things that happened at parties. Yes we had a vegan, yes there was a spiritual yoga teacher, but everyone had the same non judgemental approach to life that I admire and yes I fell over a lot. I hurt from using new muscles, and got forced into improving my posture, and not being able to bend as much as I thought I could, I even learnt some Capoiera.
If you get the chance, travel, do things you wouldn’t normally do and get pleasantly surprised that your worst case scenario doesn’t get met. Even when things go wrong, this usually leads to stories you can tell later and sometimes you can even laugh at these during. It has taken me some time to relax into this mindset, but it’s worth it, you should give it a go too.
What did I learn apart from yoga?
I learnt that I can be more present so after a while, I started to get more disciplined and had moments where I was there in the moment, ok I still slipped on occasion but I improved.
I learnt more about the limits of my body, I occasionally pushed too far and fell over or felt some pains I shouldn’t, but it’s better to learn this in Yoga than in BJJ when you are letting someone else test your bodies limits.
I found an uncompetitive outlet for a change, as there is no way I can compete with some of these amazing yogis, this was very freeing. I just focus on what I’m doing and this helps balance out my competitive endeavours.
I made a whole new group of friends that have similarities to BJJ people but with a different take, it’s good to meet new people.
I feel my niggling injuries improving, things like my lower back feel better and my dodgy left hip is stronger and feels good when I do yoga.
Some suggestions for training Yoga
The Yoga Shed Hitchin - Where it all started for me, thanks Liz for this.
Fierce Grace Yoga - these guys hosted the retreat in Spain, with the lovely Michelle and her husband Terry, the great “Chi” Chimeze for making me hold positions for longer than I wanted, and his great spiritual outlook on the world.
The Power Yoga Co - This is where you will find me three or four times a week, a great group of instructors and i love the space.
Bikram Yoga Chiswick - If you want to do hot yoga, this local business is a great place to do it, I think Wave members might still get a discount here too if you ask