So, here is #2 in my “real people” series.  Today is an interview with a yoga teacher.

Melanie Herbert is a qualified ashtanga yoga teacher (and she is my yoga instructor!) with classes in and around St Albans. For more details visit www.melanieherbert.com

Q: What made you start learning yoga?

A:  I actually wanted to learn Pilates but that class was full so I signed up for yoga instead. I had no idea what to expect but was hooked from the first class – I considered myself reasonably fit as I did a bit of running, cycling and swimming, but I can honestly say I’d never found any exercise as difficult as that first class! I was intrigued and surprised by my body’s limitations. The teacher made each posture look so effortless, but I was completely stiff and inflexible.

I went to that class every week for about 6 months and started noticing very subtle improvements – I could (just about) touch my toes without bending my knees, but I still found sitting cross-legged completely uncomfortable and needed to sit on a block. This was due to inflexibility in my hips. My hamstrings were also incredibly tight from all the running and cycling I had done.

So I signed up for a second weekly class and from there my flexibility and overall ability to do the postures improved as I began to feel the benefits of more regular practice. I bought my own mat and tried practising at home, but found it difficult to remember how to get into the postures and coordinate the breathing.

Those early classes were held in a small local studio which was the perfect place for a beginner like me to get all the personal attention and adjustments my body needed to practise safely. My teachers were very supportive and encouraged me to try other classes, one of which was an ashtanga vinyasa class. I turned up having no idea what to expect and was, once again, blown away by how difficult I found it compared to the elegant poise and serenity of the teacher. Not only that, I started working up a sweat, so I really felt like I was having a good workout.

I was desperate to progress with my practice so I persuaded the teacher to give me private lessons. It is a common tradition in yoga that the student finds their teacher (by some cosmic force!) but the teacher initially refuses to take on the student. This is exactly what happened in my case. My teacher observed me attending the group class over several weeks before deciding that I had the dedication to merit individual lessons. I am eternally grateful to her for passing on her knowledge to me – over the course of these lessons, not only did my physical practice develop, but I began to learn about the history and philosophy of yoga, more advanced breathing and meditation techniques, basic Sanskrit, mantras and chanting.

This was nearly 10 years ago and I have had many wonderful teachers since then. I have found that there is always something new to discover with yoga – always somewhere further you can go in the physical postures, always a more deeper level of awareness of ourselves. For me, yoga is a voyage of discovery and I feel blessed by the accidental circumstances which brought me to that first class.

Q: So how often do you practise?

A: I try to do a physical practice or meditation 6 times a week – this can vary from just a few sun salutations to a full practice which takes an hour and a half. It’s important to distinguish between practising and teaching – whilst I may be physically doing the postures when I teach, I don’t consider this to be practising yoga since I am not breathing correctly or focused as I need to be.

A lot of students ask me how often they “should” practise. I really dislike this word as it puts so much pressure on us. My answer is to practise as often as you can – you will feel the benefits if you can only manage 5 minutes a day, or one hour a week. But obviously the more you practise, the more you will progress.

Q: What other exercise do you do?

A: I continued to do the odd run or cycle, no more than once a week, up until around 3 years ago. My teacher at the time used to nag me to stop as these forms of exercise (like many) shorten the hamstrings which counters the effects of yoga. At first, I was scared that if I stopped doing other forms of exercise I wouldn’t be able to stay “fit” or that I’d put on weight. So at first, I increased the amount of swimming I did instead – swimming between 3km and 4km a week. Then one day when I was swimming I had a thought that I would rather be at home doing yoga so I got out of the pool and haven’t been back!

Now the only form of exercise I do is ashtanga vinyasa yoga and I firmly believe that I don’t need to do anything else to be fit and healthy. In fact, I have never been leaner or stronger than I am right now.

Q: That’s interesting. So how does yoga keep you fit?

A: There are many styles of yoga and it would be wrong to suggest that by doing one hour per week of gentle hatha yoga you will increase and maintain your fitness, although it should improve your flexibility, overall well-being and maybe increase your core strength.

Using yoga for fitness depends, not just on the style, but on the intensity of your practice, and of course the frequency. If you practise the physical postures with integrity, working at (which means slightly pushing) your body’s limits, you will be fitter than practising at a more gentle pace.

However, for anyone who is already physically fit, I would recommend ashtanga vinyasa yoga which builds strength and stamina, along with flexibility and core stability.

Q: You talk about different styles of yoga – what are the differences?

A: All yoga is hatha yoga but this term is generally used to describe more relaxing styles where the emphasis is on gradually increasing flexibility. It is the foundation for pregnancy yoga and restorative yoga.

However, the postures in all forms of yoga are principally the same. What changes is the way you come into or out of the postures, how long you hold them for, the order in which they are done and how they are linked (and in the case of “hot yoga” the temperature of the room!).

For example, in a general hatha yoga class, the teacher will prepare a class choosing any postures and putting them in their own order. In between postures, students will tend to relax before beginning the next. There may be little emphasis on breathing techniques although the teacher should tell you when to inhale and exhale.

At the other extreme, in an ashtanga vinyasa class, the order of the postures does not change and students perform dynamic linking movements in between to maintain heat and energy. Breathing techniques are vital in these classes, as is the development of internal energy locks, known as “bandhas”. These can be compared to muscles deep within the body which can take years of practise to engage.

Even within the same style of yoga, two different teachers may teach the same posture differently – one may focus on correct alignment, another may focus on breathing. As long as the student is practising safely, and without danger of injury, there is no right or wrong way which is why it’s important for each student to find the style and the teacher which suits them. Although it’s also good to try different teachers to avoid becoming too rigidly attached to doing the postures a certain way. Through yoga, we want to develop flexibility of mind as well as body!

Q: What else do you do to stay fit and healthy?

A: I’ve been a vegetarian for over 15 years, far longer in fact than I’ve been practising yoga and I consider this to be the most influential thing I’ve done to lose weight. I used to eat very unhealthily and whilst I wasn’t fat, I had a few excess pounds in certain areas which I could never seem to shift. Restricting my intake of animal fat (including dairy products) has really helped me maintain a healthy weight. I still eat fish and eggs but my diet is predominantly vegetable based. I don’t count calories or restrict the amount I eat.

I think it’s important not to make any drastic changes to your diet overnight though. If you’re interested in giving up meat, try cutting out red meat first, say for 3 months. Then progress to cutting out white meat. You could also try switching from cow’s milk to soya or rice milk (I prefer the latter) or switching from standard tea and coffee to green or herbal teas.

Yoga naturally detoxifies the body by massaging the internal organs and allowing the release of toxins through the skin (via sweat). It’s actually important when practising yoga not to wipe the sweat away, but to let it fall from you naturally. A towel will simply push the toxins back into the body.

Q: Does yoga offer any other benefits?

A:  Yes, but there are so many they would be the subject of another interview! If you would like more information or have any questions, please email info@melanieherbert.com.

Thank you Melanie for your input!  And thank you for getting me started in yoga.  I have found it to be an amazing workout and super challenging.  It is a great thing to add to any natural weight loss plan.

To your health

Kimberly