When your life takes a down-turn, do you give up, or do you become an internationally renowned yoga teacher, create the business of your dreams and publish a book? That’s what Emma Burton from Shropshire has done.
Emma, 45 from Shrewsbury, has been the owner and Director of My Soul Space, in Shrewsbury, which is for sale, for six years and a qualified yoga teacher for 18 years.
Emma decided to combine what she had learned through yoga and her coaching business to write a book.
‘Don’t Get Stuck on your Asana’ was published in paperback in January and has just launched on Amazon in Kindle and e-reader version.
Emma said: “The book starts with the words ‘Please just go and get happy’, which is what my mother said to me 25 years ago after a heartbreak. It’s what I want for anyone who reads this book. Life can be tough and it’s especially intense for people right now.
“I want to help life to be a little easier for people. I poured my heart and soul into my yoga practice after my divorce, nine years ago. The correct use of yoga also cured a painful back injury I sustained, through a heavy-handed approach to teaching of yoga and which threatened my own career a yoga teacher, and I want to share this.”
Emma discovered yoga 25 years ago and from her first session said she felt her “physical and mental state had been elevated” and she was “hooked.”
But she also says that today, there is a worrying trend in yoga, one that sees teachers and students pushing their body to its limits, often in an unsafe way.
“Asana is the physical branch of yoga. It’s used to describe all of the positions or postures you can physically use when practising. But yoga is so much more than that. It’s certainly more than being able to do the splits or stand on your head without hands.
“Used properly, it embraces all aspects of us, emotional, mental, physical and even the ego and soul. I have seen some really worrying practices which are actually harmful to people’s bodies. Yoga isn’t about what clothes you wear or how far you can stretch, it’s about improving all aspects of your life.
“That’s why the book is called ‘Don’t get stuck on your asana’, it’s a play on words as I hope to help people make shifts in their life – starting one day at a time. It’s for people who have never tried yoga and want to learn about themselves and how they can improve their physical and mental wellbeing, as well as those who may feel stuck in a rut and want to choose the here and now to move out of it and those who have tried or practiced yoga, but might benefit from deepening their knowledge.”
Emma said she found writing the book therapeutic. The book includes tasks the reader can take part in, such as journal entries, reflections, breathing exercises and pictorial guides to improve yoga practice.
“All of us have a life to live and we all have struggles. People can get turned off by yoga as they think it’s fluffy. But it starts with breath – the first and last things we do in this life are breathe.
“It’s the basics, get the basics right and you can change the way you operate. It can make you feel better each day, which can make you healthier and stronger both physically and mentally which can then empower the rest of your life. If there ever was a time to make these life changes, I feel it’s now.”
Emma’s book is available to buy now. You can order a physical copy of Don’t Get Stuck on your Asana to be posted to you by emailing Emma at e.burton1@icloud.com or via www.emma-burton.com. If you prefer an e-reader version, Emma’s book is available on Amazon.
“I feel that as we emerge slowly from lockdown, there has never been a better time than now for people to make positive changes in their lives. I am offering my Amazon book for just 99p for one day to help people emerge with healthy habits and feel good.
“If people want to join me for yoga practice, I am teaching yoga online via Zoom and in a private group. I am offering one month “yoga-on demand” classes. All people need to do is join my Facebook group at My Soul Space Online Classes.”
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