Fancy a trip to Spain my oldest and best friend Debs asked down the phone.
It was winter and she was suggesting the trip in early autumn. A walking and yoga holiday was being suggested. I don’t want to fly I said. No worries we can get the train she replied. The holiday would be women only, vegan and near Seville. Sounded lovely. Ok why not I replied. I am a keen walker but my relationship with yoga had always been fairly problematic. I aspired to doing yoga and had tried many times mostly on line or via apps especially during lockdown. My friend however, did regular yoga and aspired to being a walker. When I lived in Sydney many years ago I took classes but got disheartened by my lack of flexibility and decided I just didn’t have the physical attributes and lost interest.
The holiday with Walking Women started with a three day train journey via Oxford (where Debs lives), Eurostar to Paris and a night in Barcelona. There was reading, some knitting and a lot of watching the changing landscape out of train windows. The journey was lengthy and expensive but we both really enjoyed it.
On reaching Seville we could relax. Having met up with our group of very mixed walking and yoga abilities we were taken to a gorgeous hacienda in Andalusia.
Predictably, I was looking forward to the walking and a bit unsure about the yoga. Beca our yoga teacher met us all that first evening and explained with lots of reassurance. Included in the trip was four sessions each an hour long in the early evening after the day’s walk. Settling on to my mat for the first session it was down dogs, child poses, various of course balance. I found it hard. Sneaking glances at the rest of the group it was reassuring that all ages, sizes and flexibilities were covered. It was very relaxed and Beca so supportive and encouraging. Just listen to your body and do what you can. This is not a competition. Chanting at the beginning and end was optional but felt fantastic helped by the acoustics of the space.
Afterwards we all settled with drinks before dinner watching the sunset before a delicious vegan meal. Our daily schedule was set . We were all enjoying it so much and for most of us yoga was a new experience.
That was nearly a year ago and to my surprise I have continued with yoga. I do about 4 hours a week at a local leisure centre and extra classes with Beca on line. I am just as inflexible and cannot do all the poses and occasionally fall over or at least wobble precariously when trying to balance. But it’s fun and has really helped my sciatica.
Maybe in retirement I was ready for something new and challenging And I was now ready to make the time to commit.
I joke with Beca how she has changed my life but it’s true.
Wendy 2025
