I remember vividly the first yoga class I went to. It was in 2004, in Washington D.C where I was working as an intern for a Congressman. I had always shied away from sport or anything to do with fitness. When I went to yoga, I found a place where I could get into my body in a way that felt really good. For the first time I didn’t feel judged or pressure to perform which I had always experienced with team sports.
I felt there was a space where I could get to know my own body. I loved yoga, and I loved the community that I met at that studio. My path into becoming a yoga teacher didn’t run smoothly, as I was getting into my new found love, I was in an accident. I got driven over by a four wheel drive pick up truck, which I was very lucky to survive and still be able to walk after. However I had a lot of trauma both emotional and in my body. I continued to do yoga but found it harder with my injuries and so gravitated towards the lighter more mediative styles.
My practice was on and off, depending on what else was going on in my life and how I felt about myself. Some years later, I had a major burnout. I was working too much on creating the book, The Future We Choose alongside running other projects and I wasn’t making time for yoga, meditation and rest. I wasn’t allowing my body to spend time healing in the parasympathetic nervous system, I was always stressed. I listened (because I had to!) and I made the steps to make my health a priority. I discovered that what was missing was giving space to my body, mind and soul connection. I was too much in my head, over thinking, creating myself stress and worry.
They say that the longest journey is from the head to the heart. Mine took me into deep practice with yoga, meditation and energy healing. I learnt be heartful, I learnt to trust and listen to my intuition. I shed many layers of conditioning that was keeping me trapped in the same patterns and pain.
I realised that every little trauma was being held in my body and that I could only go so far in myself if I didn’t release and transform them. I realised that creating freedom and strength in my body was creating freedom and strength in my life. I realised that my productivity, creativity and stamina were all sharper when I was connected to my whole body and breath. I transformed the pain in my legs. I found a place of calm and peace. I dug deep into my darkness and realised that it was ok, that I was ok, that I was enough.
And so here it is, now I am a yoga teacher and an intuitive healer because I want to provide a space where you can feel that freedom, where you can meet another part of yourself, where you can transform your fear into love, where you can connect to the strength and power inside of yourself.
I can’t imagine my life without yoga. It has connected me back to my heritage in the most wonderful and unexpected ways. It has given me space to be who I am. I now teach weekly yoga and meditation classes in London, and work one on one doing a mixture of yoga, meditation and healing. I love to chant mantras and have found this to be a deeply transformative practice and bring it to all my classes, chanting at both the beginning and during savasana. I study yoga philosophy and life and bring these insights into all my classes, so that each experience can give us something in that moment that comes back to us in our daily lives.
Giving ourselves space to rest and be nourished and understand ourselves from a new perspective is truly beneficial. This is why I love to teach retreats. What can happen over a few days or a week when we take ourselves out of our comfort zones and go and be part of a group all looking for the same thing is nothing short of miraculous. Some of my favourite words which always apply to yoga, whether a class or a retreat, The Journey Is The Treasure.
About the author
Amisha is yoga teacher, writer and speaker on all aspects of conscious and sustainable living with background in sustainable fashion, politics, social entrepreneurship and design. She weaves these experiences together with spiritual awareness to question what it really means to be human at this time. Find out more about Amisha on her website.
