Beneyoga personalised one-on-one yoga therapy

Image: Bene Spoelders working with a client

In search of flexibility

If there is one thing I wish I had done when I was younger it is that I wish I had made a regular habit of doing yoga.

(There are many things actually, both things I wish I had done and maybe a few more I wish I hadn’t, but this is one I’m prepared to share!)

I have had the odd stab at it over the years and have a passing acquaintance with a downward dog. (I love those videos of dogs, usually labradors, doing yoga with their owners. Finally I understood why it was called a downward dog).

But I hate being the most useless person in the class and lack the discipline to do it on my own, so have never made it part of my daily routine. Cleaning my teeth, getting showered and dressed is about as good as it gets in terms of a routine – moisturising and Wordle have also largely passed me by.

I was therefore very pleased to meet Bene Spoelders, who is not just a yoga instructor but a yoga therapist, who sees clients one-on-one for customised sessions in which she analyses their particular problems and gives them the relevant exercises.

She specialises in older, creakier clients who have particular issues or simply want to ease the ageing process by improving their strength, balance and mobility. She takes assiduous notes and suggests “let’s try this,” or “let’s try that,” taking great care not to aggravate sore bits – in my case a dodgy hip.

Originally from Belgium, she has practised yoga herself since she was a student.

Bene Spoelders

“I did not come to yoga with amazing flexibility or acrobatic abilities. In fact, I arrived with quite a bad posture. Over the years, yoga has helped me correct the tendency to hunch my shoulders forward and deal with the slight scoliosis of my spine. Practising yoga has been essential for my physical well-being.”

I find the different types completely baffling. Did I want Hatha or Ashtanga? Vinyasa or Iyengar? Kundalini or Bikram? They all promise to improve your  health and well-being.

Bene trained as a yoga teacher in the Scaravelli discipline, then went on to learn about structural alignment from osteopath/yoga teacher Peter Blackaby, and  yoga therapy for back pain from Robin Monro. She then spent two and a half years learning about yoga therapy with the Biomedical Trust and Yoga Campus in London.

“I learned in-depth anatomy and physiology, and how yoga can help a wide range of health problems. I was especially eager to learn more about safe yoga for people with back pain.”

While many of her clients present with back pain, they also come with a variety of ailments, some recovering from cancer treatments, one with Polymyalgia, but all wanting to increase their flexibility without having to brave a class.

“For more than a decade I’ve helped hundreds of people prevent, manage and relieve back pain. I select and adapt the yoga poses, relaxation and breathing techniques that will benefit your health and make a positive difference in your life.”

Bene can talk the talk if needed, but realising I am about as spiritually-minded as the tree trunk outside her window, she focuses on the physical results of doing this or that movement and dials back the visualisation in her sessions with me, but concentrating on breathing is always an essential part of it. By the end I am always completely relaxed and ready to fall asleep on her carpet.

The good thing about having a one-on-one session is that, apart from the customised programme to stop this or that muscle hurting and get this or that joint moving, there can be no slacking, so I really feel the benefit of an hour spent with her.

For Bene, “yoga has created a space and time for myself, to feel more centred and at peace”. I’d say the same is true for me. I do feel good after a session, as opposed to slinking away hoping nobody noticed what I was up to on my mat.

She has encouraged me to believe I’ve not left it too late altogether. I can improve my balance and be more flexible than I am, and relieve some of those aches and pains.

Read more about Beneyoga and contact Bene through her website.

beneyoga.co.uk

The initial consultation is free, a chat to find out how best to customise sessions according to clients’ needs, but a gift of a trial package of sessions might make a good Christmas present. Here are Bene’s suggestions in our Christmas gift guide:

chiswickcalendar.co.uk/christmas

BeneYoga is a member of our Club Card scheme. See the discount she is offering Club Card holders here:

Chiswick-club-card-offers/beneyoga/

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