After completing my 200hr YTT at Bristol School of Yoga, I now teach Hatha Yoga Classes in Old Basing, Hampshire. 

Please see my website for more details on classes and workshops: http://goldingyoga.com

HOW DID YOU DISCOVER YOGA?

About six years ago, I was in my second year studying a Geology degree. I started because I was really interested in the physical aspect of it. I had done a lot of cross-country running, swimming and football; it was a great way to be active, but it was getting all too easy to injure myself running.

Yoga seemed like a good way to prevent injury, or at least get my body moving in different ways to what I was used to, I was curious as to how it could live up to its claims of making me more flexible.

Having tight hamstrings, I always loved yoga because it wasn't a competitive sport. Looking either side of my mat, I realised no one really focussed on what I could or couldn't do.

WHAT'S SO GREAT ABOUT THE PRACTISE?

It's the element of improving yourself each week. Looking back on weeks of conditioning a regular practise, you begin to see how much you improve. It's really subtle, but touching toes instead of ankles are the first incarnations you notice. 

It is also not strictly physical, you begin to match your pose with your breath, which is a skill that you can bring into other areas of your life. It shows how yoga has a great depth to it, it links directly to meditation and breath, and working this into your poses means that it's almost a subconscious segue.

Yoga makes it really easy to concentrate on breath, whereas sitting down and willing yourself to reflect for a moment, or just meditate, can be really hard - we almost have to be more physical in order to feel like we're accomplishing something, and yoga teaches us how to slow down.