Move with May

Did you know that I’m a certified yoga teacher??

I became certified at the end of January and absolutely love teaching yoga. I know I enjoy teaching: I am also certified in Pilates and taught privately, I previously taught at my Chinese school, and I volunteered as an English and maths mentor. But I didn’t think I’d enjoy teaching yoga this much! I think a large part of it is due to yoga not just being a physical practice, but also a mental and spiritual one. To be fair, I first got into yoga to “be fit” (whatever that means) - to get more bendy and increase my flexibility. It was only later on in my practice that I realized that yoga had also become a form of moving meditation, 60 minutes where I could be entirely present and focus on my breath, even more so when doing yoga in a heated room since I’d have to really concentrate on my breathing in order not to hyperventilate (I don’t do well in saunas.

And then the diagnosis happened. Suddenly I couldn’t run or weight train or do any of the high intensity training that I loved - I was even told that some forms of yoga would be too active for my heart. So then I had to go slow - move slow - and really take my time, learn to have a renewed focus on the breath. To practice being present in each pose on that mat and get comfortable with taking my time. I became reacquainted with Hatha and Yin yoga, “slower” forms of yoga, and better appreciated the variety of yoga styles available to people of all abilities and capabilities. In a way, this was an important lesson to have (although one I kind of wish I didn’t have to go through!) prior to my yoga teacher training.

For today’s edition of Crappy First Drafts…

I launched my YouTube channel, Move with May!

My first video is a 45 minute yoga class that focuses on using your breath to guide you through each movement. It’s a slow flow class and introduces some foundational poses of yoga, ones that I’ll be frequently teaching and are also often taught in class.

I love sharing my practice of yoga because I’m passionate about empowering people to feel comfortable and confident in their bodies, whether that’s physically or mentally, and for me, yoga does both. If you’re interested in a free live online class or want more videos, please let me know!

Check it out and let me know what you think! Give me a thumbs up (if you don’t like it just exit - no thumbs down please!), drop a comment on what other classes you’d like to see and what questions you have.