How Yoga transformed my Life and my Business.

In 2007 I faced a hysterectomy.   I was overweight, swollen, inflamed and chronically anaemic.

I had hot flushes on constant high volume, cardiac issues and needed to reduce my stress levels which were turning up in all forms from financial, to business, to family to children.   My health was on a downhill slide.   It was the discovery of Yoga that literally turned my life around.

When the operation was over,  I thought life would be better.    It wasn’t.   Weightgain increased and the other symptoms hung around.     3 years later I was still searching for relief.

I needed to take my health into my own hands.

Doctors offered Pharmaceuticals.   I knew I needed something else.

I used to be the aerobics queen.     Most of us joined an aerobics class in the 90s because of the cute outfits and the big hair while totally ignoring the knee and back injuries that proliferated that movement.    My aches and pains soon made aerobics and Zumba near impossible.     I thought a PT would sort me out – she didn’t.    A gym membership was of little use once I realised I had no discipline to work through a circuit.    My inflamed body remained that way while my choice of movement did nothing to relieve it, so I decided working it harder must be the answer.   

It wasn’t.

A conversation with a Yoga Therapist turned my life around.

I met a Yoga Therapist who looked amazing and she suggested I come to one of her classes.   I tried a couple of hot yoga classes first, which might not have been sensible.    Then headed to one of hers.  She helped me understand the inflammation in my body, the heart pains, the body aches and taught me how to breathe and move slowly and deliberately.    I learned how to open my chest muscles, to move my lymph, reduce my blood pressure and calm my nervous system.    I had no idea yoga could do all of this.   

I continued on a regular yoga path from that moment and have never looked back.    Once I could feel the body benefits, I knew my calling was to become an instructor for women experiencing similar life issues.    It’s been over  10 years now and it still astounds me to see the small incremental improvements that are continually happening.

It’s not an overnight fix by any means.    Yoga is a journey of the body, mind and spirit and it taught me to link all three.     As I felt my health improve, so too did my self esteem and my business productivity.

Life changed.    So business changed.

Over the years my weight has risen and fallen, but I feel stronger, fitter and healthier than I did when my journey began about 13 years ago.  Insulin resistance is gone and blood sugar is at an all time low.

Stress levels are normal which means heart health has improved. I’ve learned patience and calm which means my nervous system is healthy.

Achey knees are thankfully a thing of the past so arthritis fears are squashed.

I move through life differently which means my attitude to business, goal setting and having self confidence has improved.     Of course now with Yoga as my business, I’m reminded every single day to move, to breath calmly, to meditate and to be grateful.

Menopausal symptoms, elevated blood pressure, anxiety and depression are a thing of the past so no medication necessary.

Nutrition is key

I can’t talk about a massive life change without mentioning nutrition.   How many times did I hear ‘you can’t outrun, outyoga, out PT, out train a bad diet.  I had it all wrong so I learned to identify inflammatory foods that made my symptoms intolerable.  My favourites – coffee, wine, bread, pizza and the dreaded sugar needed to reduce.   Good quality fats, leafy greens and less meat were essential as was high quality supplementation.    2 qualifications in nutrition and food coaching weren’t enough to create the willpower needed to change the way I ate, so it was a long road.    I’m still learning.  The way we eat is such an emotional thing. We take such ownership of our habits.   I’m still getting it wrong but doing what I feel nurtures my soul.   And when the fatigue settles back in, I know what to do.     Instinctively I feel we all know what to do, but changing the way we eat is so personal and triggers so much emotion.    So we can talk our way around it, make excuses, tell ourselves we ‘deserve’ the treat and still find that inflammation doesn’t settle.

Learning to breath.

Once I learned how to get my breath past my heart, life changed.   My heart health was a concern for a while and while I was shallow breathing into my chest, that condition was not changing.   The slow, meditative practices within Yoga have renewed not only my health, but I can feel they’ve affected me as a person.    I’m not who I was 10 years ago.   

Yoga has been referred to as ‘The Fountain of Youth’.  I can now take yoga, water yoga and meditation anywhere in the world with me and share its life changing powers.     It changed my life and I’m so grateful I found it.  

Watch stress levels

My stress however is always this niggly presence.     Stress hits us from all angles.    It need not only just be the emotional journey, but certain foods create stress in the system with allergies and intolerances.     Our environment, the recent pandemic, the state of our economy, a friends health, it can all add up to stress which plays with inflammation in our body.     

People have said to me ‘but you’re a yoga and meditation teacher, aren’t you on top of it?’.     Of course I know WHAT to do, but my body is still dealing with it continually.      My mind is still chattery at 3am and my sleep is still an issue.     So I’m forever working on it. But thank God for Yoga. Without it I don’t want to think about where I’d be.

It’s an ongoing journey

Is my body at a perfect point now?   Never.   There’s always inflammation that needs to be cooled, aches and pains that need attention, weight that could be balanced, fitness to be improved.   Do I teach the advanced, acrobatic, picturesque, instagrammable yoga??? Not at all. I’m grateful, no matter what state my body is in, that I’ve made it this far.   Into the 60’s with a relatively healthy outlook.     Think I’ll make it to 90 at this rate.   

Have you ever been curious how yoga could work for you?     Would you like to talk about private or group classes or even check out my online program.     Head to my page that has a free 25 minute class and give it a try.     See how your body feels afterwards.     It’s here at www.annenoonan.com.au/virtual-yoga