By Sarah Stewart 

My first introduction to yoga was Iyengar yoga. It was physically tough, and yet relaxing at the same time. Walking out after the end of a class I always felt on such a high. I imagine it is the same sort of high that gym-goers feel after a full-on work out. I took on Iyengar yoga as a physical challenge. The teacher I had at the time took an army sergeant approach to his classes, and we held poses until we didn’t think we could hold ourselves any longer, and then some. Arms burning from holding them up. Hamstrings stinging from forward bends. While I enjoyed this approach, as it taught us that we could do more than we thought we could, it introduced an aggressive element into my yoga practice. Yoga back then was about achieving the perfect pose, and how close I could get my nose to my knee. It took me many more years of practice to realise something really quite simple, that during practice you need to be gentle with yourself as well. There are days in class when your energy is down, when you need to take it a little easier. To spend some time in child’s pose. To nurture yourself. Yoga is something that you do for yourself, and sometimes it is hard to find the balance between pushing yourself and going easy on yourself when required.