Messing around as kids, trying to balance and walk on our hands, a friend bragged to me that his granddad, a supreme German gymnast, once performed a handstand on the railings of a North Sea lighthouse!  Visualising this feat of valour/madness left a lasting imprint. That, and having been suckled on a diet of Hermann Hesse as a late teenager, was probably the reason I eventually took an interest in yoga. It seemed to combine a strong physical practice with some sort of spiritual end.

Having said all that, it took me at least another decade of pursuing more ‘secular vices’, like competitive sports, pleasing my wanderlust, girls and a lacklustre but stressful career in investment banking, to actually go to a yoga class. But when I did, it felt like coming home and truly changed my life for the better. Paulo Cohelo wrote about it in The Alchemist - the biggest treasure lies buried somewhere inside us. The question is how to access it?

Yoga doesn’t lend itself to theorization. You have to practice it, so start doing yoga postures. Make time in your busy schedule! Find a yoga teacher that you like. Be disciplined and don’t let your mind make excuses. It’s a priceless investment in your mental and physical well-being that will pay dividends for years to come.

Messing around as kids, trying to balance and walk on our hands, a friend bragged to me that his granddad, a supreme German gymnast, once performed a handstand on the railings of a North Sea lighthouse!  Visualising this feat of valour/madness left a lasting imprint. That, and having been suckled on a diet of Hermann Hesse as a late teenager, was probably the reason I eventually took an interest in yoga. It seemed to combine a strong physical practice with some sort of spiritual end.

Having said all that, it took me at least another decade of pursuing more ‘secular vices’, like competitive sports, pleasing my wanderlust, girls and a lacklustre but stressful career in investment banking, to actually go to a yoga class. But when I did, it felt like coming home and truly changed my life for the better. Paulo Cohelo wrote about it in The Alchemist - the biggest treasure lies buried somewhere inside us. The question is how to access it?

Yoga doesn’t lend itself to theorization. You have to practice it, so start doing yoga postures. Make time in your busy schedule! Find a yoga teacher that you like. Be disciplined and don’t let your mind make excuses. It’s a priceless investment in your mental and physical well-being that will pay dividends for years to come.