Student of the Month - December 2024 - Sarah

🌟🌟🌟December 2024 ‘Student of the Month’ is………………… Sarah Newdigate!🌟🌟🌟

Sarah attends my Wednesday morning class in East Coker. She combines family life with running her own business which she will tell you more about in the answers below, but still makes time to look after herself with her weekly classes. When you take care of other people it is also important to take care of yourself! She has given us some wonderful answers here with her insights into the connections between her yoga practice and her work as a massage therapist at Sarah Newdigate Massage Therapy

❓Tell us a bit about yourself…..

🧘‍♀️Hello! I'm Sarah Newdigate. I moved to East Coker from south London about 3 years ago with my husband and son. It's been an interesting move, (East Coker is very different from London!) but I would say we're well settled in now. Actually, before we moved to East Coker we did a lot of research about the village and one of the things I was particularly excited about was that Lisa ran an Iyengar class here! It might not have been the deciding factor, but it was certainly a very nice cherry on the cake!

I work in the village (East Coker) as a holistic massage therapist. This work is a real passion for me. I work with so many wonderful clients and it's always such a joy to help people improve their wellbeing and feel more comfortable in their body.

I'm currently studying for my diploma in myofascial release, this is a gentle, holistic style of bodywork that works to heal the whole body. The more I learn about the fascia (sometimes more generally referred to as the connective tissue) the more I see the parallels between my work and yoga. Yoga asanas move and hydrate the fascia, keeping it healthy and pain free. The more yoga I do, the more I am aware of my fascia and what it is capable of.

If you're interested in massage, please do have a look at my website and feel free to get in touch, I'd love to hear from you: www.sarahnewdigatemassage.com

❓How long have you been practising yoga?

🧘‍♀️I probably started going to yoga classes when I was 25ish. I was quite sporadic with my practice to start with though. I would say I started practising more earnestly when I was around 35+ I think this is when I started practicing at home on a more daily basis.

❓What made you start yoga?

🧘‍♀️I think I started yoga because it was a 'cool' thing to do and a few of my friends were also going to classes. Having said that I clearly remember my first yoga teacher (a petite Scottish woman in her 70s) as being a bit of an inspiration. I don't remember what I expected to get from yoga but I remember thinking it was quite special from my first introduction to it.

❓What’s your favourite pose?

🧘‍♀️I thought about this question for a while, but the honest answer is dandasana. This is because this was the first pose in which I felt I really understood yoga.

It's a simple pose, but it involves the whole body being active and alert, it's very beautiful in that way.

It's also a pose that allows me to notice how I've improved in yoga over the years. It's a slow but steady improvement which really honors the practice and the dedication that you put in.

❓And what is your favourite yoga prop?

🧘‍♀️It has to be my yoga stool. The vertebrae in my neck are all fused so without my stool I wouldn't be able to do headstands.

❓How has practicing yoga benefitted your life?

🧘‍♀️On a physical level, yoga keeps me pain free and feeling nice and fluid. I notice if I don't practice for a few days that my upper body starts to seize up and my neck and shoulders can become quite painful.

I'm also aware that if I start my day with yoga practice I am calmer and - generally - find problems easier to manage.

The asanas of yoga help me to maintain the connection between my body and mind. I am much more aware of my physical self because of my practice. My job is fairly physical and it's important that I use my body correctly whilst I'm massaging or I risk injury and a possible lifetime of pain. Yoga gives me the tools to be more aware of my body, my breath and my state of mind generally.

This awareness and knowledge also really helps me with my clients. I am often asked if there are particular yoga poses that would benefit a particular physical problem and in the past I would happily give specific poses that I felt would help. However, if you think about any asana, there isn't one part of the body that isn't involved. Yoga, particularly Iyengar yoga, really is a whole body practice and regular practice will ultimately improve overall wellbeing.

❓What makes you keep practicing?

🧘‍♀️I love it! I feel that yoga is really integral to my life now and can't really imagine life without it. I hope to be practicing as long as I am alive. Also, I'm sure if I did stop my neck and shoulders would complain so loudly I'd have no choice but to carry on practicing!

❓Anything else you’d like to add?

🧘‍♀️I am particularly grateful to have found Iyengar yoga. I remember my first Iyengar yoga class very well. I had chosen it almost at random as the time of the class worked best with my schedule. I turned up to my first class and nearly turned around and left before unrolling my mat. In my previous yoga classes I had usually been one of the oldest students there, the other students were usually lithe, skinny, gorgeous young women (those annoying people who look great in lycra). I had gotten into the mindset that this was a typical yogi.

My new Iyengar class was a complete mash up of people and I was now probably the youngest student (in my early 40s at this time). There was no 'typical' Iyengar student. I couldn't really see how this was going to work and honestly I did nearly run away!

Luckily I stayed. It was hands down the best, most intense, detailed, beautiful yoga experience I'd ever had. The 90 minutes flew by and my body felt like new afterwards.

I hadn't been aware of the other people during that first class as I was really focussed on my own self, but later on I came to really appreciate how Iyengar yoga with its props and modifications really can bring yoga to every body, without 'dumbing yoga down' or avoiding any poses.

🙏❤Thank you Sarah for sharing your yoga journey with us!🙏❤

Sarah in Dandāsana

Sarah working with one of her clients

Sarah with her favourite prop - the feet up stool - which enables her to practice headstand