“You need to be flexible, fit and very strong to be able to do yoga.”

Barking and Dagenham Post: Journalist Seema Hakim trying out a Yoga class at Barking Sporthouse for the Get Active campaignJournalist Seema Hakim trying out a Yoga class at Barking Sporthouse for the Get Active campaign (Image: Archant)

Well, that’s what I’ve heard from some of my fitness fanatic friends in the past.

I can assure you this is a complete lie.

Benita Glogowska’s Thursday evening class at Barking Sportshouse was my first ever experience with yoga.

Before the class, I was admittedly quite nervous.

Barking and Dagenham Post: Journalist Seema Hakim trying out a Yoga class at Barking Sporthouse for the Get Active campaignJournalist Seema Hakim trying out a Yoga class at Barking Sporthouse for the Get Active campaign (Image: Archant)

I’ve never tried yoga, and you couldn’t hope to meet someone less flexible.

However, Benita was able to put me at ease by advising me to just do as much as I could and not to force myself into any kind of professional stretch I simply wasn’t ready for.

Benita focuses on the popular vinyasa yoga, which synchronises movement to breathing and involves a number of “flow” movements as well as stretches.

It was challenging to keep focused on my breathing while trying to manoeuvre my body into various positions I never even knew I could do.

But that is what yoga is – an exercise to push oneself physically as well as mentally and as a complete beginner I could see the benefits quite early on.

Don’t get me wrong – there were times – I could feel my arms and legs shaking and the only thought going through my head was how much I wanted to just sit down and give up.

But as the 90-minute class got going I felt the urge to push myself further and further.

Even if I looked ridiculous when trying out the more advanced movements I couldn’t stop thinking about how good my body felt following the various exercises.

As a first-timer, I was sure not to push myself too much but enough to make sure I got some good out of it.

“Only you know what your body is capable of,” Benita kept saying.

At the end of the class, we were instructed to relax while lying on our mats and I can honestly say I hadn’t felt so good in a long time. Yoga is something I’ll be doing again.