Meet @louiseburke1 sharing her #yogasavedmylife story with us. These are her words 💚

"My yoga journey started at 18 years old, it was part of my constant search for happiness, for escape. I didn’t truly accept yoga into my life until many years later

For years I was desperately unhappy & searching in all the wrong places for something that did not exist. I drank, had destructive & at times abusive relationships, I allowed myself to be controlled, to be a person that was anybody but myself. I hated myself for many years & sought anything to escape my emotional pain

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I had bouts of dark, dark depression & just carried on, continued to escape through drink & work

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In 2016 my then sixteen-year-old daughter left home without a word, just moved out & severed all contact with her family. My world imploded & I could not see a way to carry on. My already troubled marriage quickly broke down. I was going through the motions, trying to hold it together for the sake of my youngest child

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I found myself in another destructive relationship in an effort to block out my pain, I was too blind to see beyond the love that I felt: once again I had allowed myself to be controlled, shamed into being something I wasn’t

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Over time that person became ever more emotionally abusive, I was shutting myself off from the world & believed it was just me trying to cope with the loss of my child

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Very slowly & without any intention, I found myself focusing on running & practising yoga daily. They became a ritual which was giving me the power to function, head space to stop thinking momentarily. I had some semblance of control

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Yoga is now my life, it allows me to function, it gives me purpose & comfort, the strength to carry on & space to heal when the pain feels too much. It is my respite

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My yoga journey is now focused on completing my teacher training, to be able to share the tools to find emotional support when we need it most, no matter what the circumstance

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Yoga is for everybody. I am thankful for the health of the people I love, I am thankful for the love & support of my family. We are truly limitless 🙏 Namaste "