Bilyana’s Yoga Journey
How long have you been practicing yoga for?
I first started practicing yoga at home during the first Covid lock down as a way to relax and practice mindfulness after a stressful day working in healthcare, as well as using yoga as a form of exercise at home. I was only watching Youtube videos for beginners and continued practicing for a few months like that. After a while I felt like Youtube videos were not enough and I was not really getting the full benefit of a yoga practice.
For a couple of years I was trying to find a yoga class for beginners near me that could help me get a proper introduction to yoga. This proved to be a difficult task as most classes I could see were either too far away from me or would start too early and I could never make it to the class on time. In January this year one of my friends told me there were yoga classes for beginners near me so I decided to give it a go again. After nearly 4 years off the mat, Michelle’s yoga classes made me fall in love with yoga again.
What class do you attend and why did you seek it out?
At first I was attending the yoga classes for beginners. These were blocks of around 6-8 classes introducing us to the foundations of yoga. The workshop style of the classes made me feel like I can take the time to learn how to properly do different yoga postures and transitions as well as how to correctly breathe during the practice and stay mindful.
After a few months of yoga for beginners I signed up for the Yoga Flow classes as a natural progression of my yoga journey.
Why did you decide to choose my class?
I’ve chosen Michelle’s class as it perfectly fits in with my lifestyle and fitness level. I’ve been suffering with back pain caused by a bad posture. I’ve started my new job last October which involves sitting on a desk in front of a screen for most of my day. This has been a big shock for me as I’ve never had a sedentary job before and I quickly started suffering from aches and pains all over my body. I’ve also had a recent knee injury from running. When I first attended Michelle’s classes I was feeling anxious that my injuries would prevent me from being able to do all the yoga postures in the class, however Michelle made sure I was feeling confident enough and safe enough in my practice making adjustments to postures as needed to prevent any further injuries. She’s always ready to listen to our concerns and make adjustments as needed.
Tell me a about the benefits yoga brings to you, both on and off your mat
Since I’ve started practicing yoga I’ve become a lot more flexible. This helps me when I am doing other types of exercise e.g. running, strength and core training at the gym. Yoga also helps me stretch after doing strength workouts at the gym for faster recovery of my muscles. I’ve not been suffering with back pain as much and I am able to run 5km runs, as the flexibility and balance I am building up is helping me have a better posture when running.
Yoga has also helped me stay mindful and reduce stress. Yoga classes have been my safe space since I’ve started my new job. I know that no matter how stressful my days are I will have my yoga classes away from all worries and focusing on what is important to me.
Share an interesting or fun fact about yourself
I moved to Glasgow from Bulgaria 9 years ago and I love exploring local culture. I use my big light, which is considered normal in Bulgaria but I recently found out is quite unusual in Glasgow.
I love traveling and exploring new cultures and cuisines and I have an interest in astrology.
My flow yoga class is a vinyasa practice that runs every Tuesday evening at The Wellbeing Hub in Glasgow from 6.30pm-7.30pm. Can’t make it? I’ll be running an additional weekly flow yoga class at the same venue from 29th August from 7.00pm-8.00pm.
