Fit For Life (Yoga in Hounslow)

02 Feb Fit For Life (Yoga in Hounslow)

Our desire for comfort can sometimes be our worst enemy. When we were in our early 30’s Sefali and I stepped out of our comfort zone in a big way.

We joined London Shootfighters, a world class cage fighting gym.

We trained alongside professional fighters. We saw world champions being trained and the methods which made them into elite champion athletes.

Sefali was even interviewed by the Guardian Newspaper journalist Jocasta Shakespeare who was curious to know why she enjoyed training in such a tough environment.

Here is a link to the article: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/jan/16/gender.healthandwellbeing

Our time at London Shootfighters gave us an incredibly valuable understanding of the intricacies of physical conditioning.

Our time there still shapes the way we train strength and conditioning at Sefali’s Yoga.

This is especially true of the cardio class which allows us to pass on the knowledge we acquired.

The classes at London Shootfighters were an incredibly intensive 90 minutes of technique, drilling, sparring, strength and cardiovascular conditioning.

I used to end the class flat out on the floor, breathless and without an ounce of strength in my body.

Looking up I would see sweat dripping from the ceiling and the walls. I was perpetually amazed I managed to make it to the end of the class, but I always did. Each passing lesson I got stronger, faster and fitter.

We trained at London Shootfighters for 4-5 years often training 4 times a week. It taught us how to tap into the sympathetic nervous system.

The sympathetic nervous system is our bodies biological accelerator pedal. The training taught us how to put our foot down on the pedal and go faster and further than we ever thought possible.

Unfortunately I didn’t know at the time how to use the bodies brake pedal known as the parasympathetic nervous system. The intense training started to take its toll on my body. It got so bad I couldn’t walk without pain.

The need to repair my body set me on a new journey which included learning the Muscle, Balance and Function system (MBF) which fixed me. Sefali also introduced me to her practical and functional Yoga. We qualified as meditation teachers under Swami Saradanander. We then seriously immersed ourselves in Tai Chi and Qi Gong.

Over the years Sefali and I have acquired a very wide base of knowledge from a myriad of sources which we can draw upon. At Sefali’s Yoga we strive to have a complete curriculum.

It’s important to know how to tap into your fight or flight system and to push your body to the limit.

It’s equally important for us to know how to mend and fix our bodies after we have trained them hard. We need to know how put our foot down on the brakes and invoke the “relaxation response” to undo all the negative effects of physical and mental stress.

We would never drive a car in which the brakes and accelerator didn’t respond to our commands.

Our cardio classes focus on how to get control of the accelerator pedal and our Tai Chi / Qi Gong classes focus on how to get control over our natural biological brakes.

The Yoga classes focus on making our bodies structurally sound and undoing any ill effects whether they be from exercise or sedentary living. The breathwork teaches us how to tap into our sympathetic and parasympathetic system. The meditation teaches us tools to master our minds so that they work for us instead of against us.

All we need to do is commit to our practice.