Lockdown one had an unavoidable impact on everyone- myself included. Being confined to my house, and removed from my friends- I turned to yoga for help.

By Catherine Gregson 

@_xcatherinex_

In the UK, the first lockdown started at the end of March 2020. But lockdowns weren’t exclusive to the UK: they were occurring worldwide. Most of us were plunged into something we haven’t experienced before: near total isolation from the world outside the four walls of our homes. Moreover, most of us were naïve as to how long the nationwide lockdowns would last. I, for one, never would have expected to be trapped inside for four months during the summer of 2020. The effects of lockdown on us all were unavoidable, as in a matter of days, our lives were turned upside down and all established routines had to be thrown out of the window.

The established routine which had to be abandoned for me was built around the completion of my final year of sixth form. I’d began revising in anticipation for my summer exams and was completing coursework ahead of them. I was used to socialising in school during the week and going out with my friends on the weekend. As a natural extrovert, I found it incredibly hard having this removed from me and having to resort to video calling my friends. It didn’t give me the same level of connection and intimacy I’d experienced with seeing friends in person. It felt so strange to be limited to interacting in person with only my immediate family.

Initially, the freedom from revision and study for my A-levels felt blissful. For around the first month, I enjoyed not being confined to my desk, with thoughts of my subjects constantly at the back of my mind, pressing me to work. However, the novelty of the situation soon wore off, and with the death of the family dog I’d loved since I was five, I began to grow sad. I didn’t know how to process the weight of the emotions I was feeling and felt I was left with little tools to do so. Only being allowed outside your house for 1 hour a day (in the UK), which most people used to go on a walk, made escaping what I was feeling, difficult. I was on a downward spiral that would make me very sad for a time.

This was until I discovered yoga. After taking some advice from a friend, I turned to YouTube workouts. I initially tried pilates, however I came away from it knowing this wasn’t the release I needed. Then, I stumbled across a yoga video. It was from Yoga with Adrienne’s YouTube channel. After being initially intimidated with the, sometimes traditional, terminology she uses I persisted and finished the yoga practice feeling noticeably different. I felt a sense of release and calm return to my body and mind. 

Adrienne encourages her viewers to practice yoga daily, and she speaks of personal benefits which would be noticeable, if practiced on a daily basis. This is what I began to do, and I noticed positive results on my mental health as a result. I felt a sense of serenity after each video practice ended. 

Over time, I noticed my mental health improve and I began to feel more like ‘me’ again. I am so grateful to Adrienne and the accessibility of her YouTube channel videos. I believe that they saved my mental health in 2020 and I know that I’m not the only one she’s helped: multitudes of people frequently comment under her videos discussing how much she’s helped them and how grateful they are. If you’re sceptical, I recommend going through and reading some of the comments to see the extent to the positive impact she has had.

Determined not to abandon such a positive habit in my life, I have continued to try to practice yoga daily. Obviously, this isn’t always realistic, but I try to stick to it as much as possible. Yoga has kept my head above water ever since that first lockdown. Whenever I have felt stressed at university, putting aside my studying and laying out my yoga mat to practice always makes me return to a sense of calm. Nothing else in life has ever had the same effect on me. I am now incredibly passionate about yoga and have been known to preach about the wonders it works to other people. If ever anyone approaches me saying they’re anxious, sad or stressed, one of the first things I recommend they try is yoga. The same applies if someone told me they had aching shoulders or back, for example. Not only is yoga amazing for your mental health, but it is also hugely beneficial for your physical health too. Yoga can help with: strength, balance, flexibility, pain relief, heart health and reducing inflammation. The beauty of yoga is it’s not elitist: it’s inclusive. You don’t require special shoes or kit to participate and it’s free to take part online. You can even do it in your pyjamas! All you need is a comfortable space, ideally with a yoga mat or some sort of rug and comfortable clothing which you can easily move around and stretch in.   

Another thing I love about Yoga with Adrienne, in particular, is that she has specifically tailored videos for certain concerns or issues. For example, she has videos that help relieve shoulder pain and period cramps, to videos that help with stress and with grounding. I like to send specific videos of hers to people if they mention a particular issue or pain to me. Since yoga has helped me so much, I want to make as many people as possible aware of the benefits of it and how it can help them in their lives. There’s such a wide variety of yoga videos freely available on YouTube, ranging from practices that last ten minutes to over an hour. So why not try one and see how it makes you feel? I promise you won’t regret it. 

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About the Author:

Catherine is in her final undergraduate year studying Politics and International Relations. She is passionate about all things political and social justice and is also a keen traveller and reader.

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