Maree's Story

Maree Lewis - September, 2011

Yoga is not for me a place to do amazing poses or push my body beyond its limits, but to be kind and caring to myself, which in my busy life often gets put aside for all the other things...

I really was in a bit of a state when I started yoga. It was 21 years ago & I was a very busy working mother of four in my forties. I was under a lot of pressure, (at that particular point more than the usual rough and tumble that life throws at you), and I was exhausted, stressed and scared. I knew something had to happen and decided it might be a good idea to find a yoga class that I could go along to with my sister.

Yoga session number one was at Footscray Pool with loud gym classes going on and screaming children in the pool, but in spite of all the noise I enjoyed it and I loved the relaxation. It felt so different to any other type of class and I took to it like a duck to water.

Finding yoga felt like a blessing, it gave me the time to stop and look inside myself. It helped me to see through the chaos of my life and get some new perspective. It made me realise that everything was in fact OK and that life was not impossible. I could stop, take a big breath and go back into the world feeling lighter… After class I felt like a different person and would always come home feeling refreshed and relaxed.

There were many times through those early years that it was a big effort to get to the classes. My teacher had moved to Williamstown and often it would have been easier to not make the effort to travel. I often had to really push myself to go. My sister & our daughters have attended with me off and on over the years, but I stuck with it and kept going regularly. It felt like something I had to do! I started going twice a week and got really good at it and loved it. I lost weight, the kids were by then starting to leave home and it felt like something really good, something for me...

Throughout all my years of yoga, (and it still regularly happens today), the yoga class finishes and as you are leaving you find yourself looking at another student and you both say,

I really didn’t feel like coming to yoga today, I was tired and wanted to stay at home, but I am so glad I did because I feel so much better!

There have been 3 wonderful yoga teachers in my life over the 21 years and Claire is one of them. We met when she came to take over my last teacher’s class in Newport about 8 years ago and I have been attending her yoga classes ever since. It is lucky for me that she lives around the corner & decided to open her studio within walking distance of my house.

I am now retired, moving into my late sixties and I go to yoga more than ever. I am still very busy with my children, 12 grandchildren, family, friends & neighbours. My love of yoga continues to grow and develop and I have noticed a big shift since I started attending retreats as well as classes about 3 years ago. Going to retreats has added to my yoga experience, it is lovely to have the time to slowly enjoy longer sessions twice a day or more, eat wonderful food, enjoy great company and have loads of fun.

My retreat experiences got me thinking why can’t I go to yoga this much all the time, I mean really why not? I have tried to do yoga at home but it just isn’t the same. It seems impossible to get the mental focus that you get in a class and there is always something going on to distract and interrupt me, the phone, someone comes to the door…

As I am heading into my late 60's I know yoga is very good for my health, even more so than when I was younger, it helps me to concentrate on myself for set times during the week and brings me back to me. A lot of the weight bearing and opening postures are very challenging and you use your body in a yoga class in ways that you just don’t do in everyday life. But if you don’t use all the bits then they stop working, and the older you get the more important this becomes.

Claire & Belinda’s eclectic approach to yoga means that classes are always different, I am never bored, and what adds to my pleasure is that it is fun! I never come into a class & think “Oh, here we go again”, this is what keeps me coming back. We laugh, it is social and I enjoy mixing with the other students, people of all ages, it keeps me young…

I am a lucky woman to have found yoga when I did and very lucky to have found 3 wonderful teachers… Thank you!