Colleen Brien
“Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the self” The Bhagavad Gita
With a background in gymnastics and running, I have always loved exercise for how it made my body feel and for the effect that it had on my mind and well-being. Yoga has always been something that I enjoyed practising, but it wasn’t until 2015 when I attended my first ever hot yoga class that my yoga journey really began. Initially, I attended for exercise and to maintain my flexibility but immediately realised that yoga was far, far more than just exercise- I had connected to something much higher. Perhaps it was just at a time in my life where I could fully appreciate not just physical well-being but emotional and spiritual well-being too. It led me to do my 500hr teacher training where I qualified in 2017 and have been enjoying sharing my love of yoga ever since whilst continuing to learn and grow and explore my own practice. Yoga for me is a relationship with yourself- mind, body and soul, through stillness, breath and movement.
I love to teach flow classes, including ladder flows and dynamic sequences, but I will always meet you where you are at and encourage you to feel into your practice and listen to your own body. I enjoy a strong flow as I feel so connected to breath and movement that it helps to still the mind; It’s like a moving meditation. Slower classes were always my nemesis when I first started practising yoga as I found it so challenging being in the present moment; holding poses for a longer amount of time meant that my mind would drift off and I found it frustrating. I always felt the need to be moving forward and for me it was a challenge to stay still and enjoy the present moment for what it was. I have learned so much about myself on my yoga journey that I now love teaching slow classes. I like to hold the space for others to go on that journey too- to sit in stillness and to surrender and in the stillness to become aware of the self, to know yourself and to have an awareness of your body and mind and where you may be stuck.
It is so rewarding teaching and seeing the journey that people go on- becoming aware of their body, breath and mind and bringing that awareness into their everyday lives. It’s lovely to see the expression of self on the mat but just as rewarding is when you witness yoga off the mat- when it becomes part of who you are, when you respond to people and situations differently because of the connection you have with yourself, because you have released those things which do not serve you and you have grown in self-love.
When we come to the mat our expectations, judgements, trauma and limiting beliefs sometimes come along with us. If we can connect to the present moment through stillness, breath and movement these things can be suspended for a moment in time or they may weave their way into the practice which is a chance for us to acknowledge, surrender and release. We can see where we may be stuck and if we truly surrender with love and compassion we learn to release.
My yoga journey has been more of a self development programme- far more than just exercise- it is “the journey of the self, through the self, to the self,” and what a wonderful journey it is.