Having wanted to try yoga for months, I jumped at the opportunity to try out a session at the Larruperz Centre with Liz Boynton.

On a relatively warm Friday morning, I made my way from the busy Ross Gazette office, to the Larruperz Centre. When I met Liz, she was very warm and welcoming, and so was the group she led.

At the start of the session, Liz explained that the class was halfway through a term, and she asked me if I had ever done yoga before. I told her I was completely new to it, so she told me if I was unsure about anything, she would help.

A lot of Liz’s previous sessions with the group had focused on breathing techniques, but the session I joined was focused on stretching techniques. Liz explained:?“So often when students are doing a posture they are not totally involved. Their mind wanders and therefore they are not totally aware of the body and its movements.” They should be working mindfully not mindlessly. The whole body and mind should be involved when working in a pose.”

At the beginning of the session, I found I was one of these students with a wandering mind; I am very easily distracted, and switching off has never really been something that comes easily to me. But Liz’s soothing voice and the relaxing music soon began to work its magic.

Liz explained:?“To be able to achieve this total involvement, we work on moving into a stretch. If you don’t go far enough there is no challenge to the muscles, no intensity, but if you go too far there is physical pain and a risk of injury. Between these two points is a degree of stretch that is in balance and we call this place in the stretch your ‘edge’.”

As we moved into a posture, Liz asked the group to be aware of when they first felt a resistance in the muscles. At that point she asked us to stop and breathe, as we exhaled, the muscles released the tension and it became easier to move deeper into the pose until we felt the next ‘edge’, the next point at which the muscles resisted.

Again, this was the point in which we would pause, breathe, and the resistance lessened, which allowed us to move even deeper. This sequence was repeated until we reached a maximum ‘edge’, where the muscles would no longer release, and we held that posture, and breathed.

Liz explained:?“By working in this way, your mind and body are totally involved moment by moment. The essence of yoga is the ability to focus on one thing, be it a posture, a thought or a breath, without distraction – and maintain that focus with clarity. When we practice our yoga, we should be aware moment by moment and be totally absorbed in what we are doing.”

I was amazed by how far I was able to stretch by using this sequence; I have never been very flexible but I was able to stretch much further than I ever thought I would be able to in only one session.

Liz was a very good teacher; she did have to come over on occasion to help me, but I was not made to feel self conscious at all, which is extremely rare for me.

We finished our session by thanking one another – Namaste – the literal meaning is ‘I recognise the spirit within you’

I spoke with some of the members of the group after the session, and every one of them had wonderful things to say about yoga, and the sessions with Liz.