LIVING YOGA……by Helen Greatorex

What was it that attracted me to yoga?

The chance to get relief from 3.5 years of chronic pain.

Why Satyananda Yoga?

It was recommended as where to learn to breathe properly.

I had been a keen bushwalker and already knew I ought to learn to breath properly ‘one day’……

Late 1998 saw the beginning of a relentless and vicious cycle of chronic pain with increasing disability for me, aged 50, culminating in episodes of acute on chronic pain in 2001/2002. I traveled interstate on many occasions in the hope of finding relief - all to no avail. I finally found that relief in my home town, Alice Springs, in the form of Hatha Yoga.

Early in 2002 I began effective pain medication, but was still having difficulty doing my physiotherapy - the idea of trying Yoga just came to me one day when I was out walking. I mentioned this to a neighbour who happened to have done a lot of yoga and it was she who told me to go to where I would learn to breath properly.

My first class was Yoga Nidra - I decided to go with the experience and maybe speak with the teacher afterwards. I felt so good after a 1/2 hour of relaxation that I was able to condense my pain history into a few short sentences. I was confidently told by the teacher that if I stayed with her classes I would be ‘alright’.

From that first lesson I have not looked back - I practiced daily, had steady progress, after 2 months was no longer doing any physiotherapy and after 6 months was able to cease the medication. The weekly yoga classes always seemed to be planned for me – it was as though my teacherhad rung me the day before to see what I needed!! Yoga Nidra made me feel peaceful, able to cope with life more easily and effectively and I seemed to have more energy. My thinking became more positive and I could concentrate better.

I continued to practice daily, managed pain without medication, regained self confidence and slowly regained function and strength. With the never ceasing support of my husband, teacher and friends, my life gradually returned to ‘normal’. I started bushwalking again, each day going a bit further and a bit harder.

After 18 months of yoga I was encouraged to move on to another level with a new teacher, and am now with another teacher - all of whom have done training at Mangrove Mountain over the years.

Mid 2003 my husband and I traveled to the United Kingdom, to visit our daughter. For 3 months I became adept at doing yoga in planes, trains and all types of accommodation….. by then the need to ‘understand’ how yoga worked so well for me was becoming a driving force and I applied to do Yogic Studies.

I commenced my studies at Mangrove Mountain in January 2004 with a 2 week residency at

the Ashram. Despite the uncertainty of how I would fit into the world of yoga, I knew I was being drawn to it for a reason - my family and friends were concerned I might fall off the edge of the world and were relieved to see me return home ‘normal’!! They are now some of the biggest proponents of Yoga and a young friend has since started classes.

Highlights of my 2 residencies at the Ashram have been