An Interview with Neil Hardiman by CJ
Sometimes the things that change our lives happen completely by accident. Just ask Neil.
“I actually got into yoga by mistake,” he says, laughing.
Back in 2017, Neil was a regular at a gym in Cheltenham and, by his own admission, yoga wasn’t remotely on his radar.
“I was really into fitness, but in a typical gym way. I liked weights, training with mates, Body Combat, spin classes, that sort of thing. I’d go in, do my workout, have a laugh with the lads and go home.”
Yoga? That was another world entirely.
“I honestly never thought I’d do yoga. It just wasn’t something I’d have considered. The mindfulness side, the meditation, the breathing… I didn’t know anything about any of that.”
Then one Thursday evening, everything changed.
“I turned up for what I thought was my usual class. It was about half past seven on a Thursday night. I walked in and realised I’d actually come to a yoga class by mistake.”
At that point, many people would probably have turned around and headed straight back out again. Neil nearly did.
“But I thought, ‘Well, I’m here now, so I might as well stay and give it a go.’” That single decision proved life-changing. “I absolutely loved it. I came out of that first class thinking, ‘Wow, that was brilliant. I just genuinely enjoyed the class.”
At first, Neil approached yoga in much the same way he approached any other workout.
“Initially, I probably just saw it as another exercise class. But the more I practised, the more I realised there was so much more going on.”
The physical challenge was there, certainly. But there was something else too.
“The mindfulness side of it, the breathing, the meditation, all of that gradually started to make sense. I began to realise it’s all connected.”
Coming from a traditional gym background, that was quite a shift.
“My mates certainly weren’t interested,” Neil says. “The people I worked with just didn’t get it. It wasn’t their thing.”
Many yoga practitioners will recognise that feeling. Sometimes our friends and family don’t quite understand why we’d choose a yoga class over drinks or a night out. But yoga has a way of quietly drawing people in and introducing them to a whole new community. Looking back, Neil still finds it amusing that such an important part of his life began with a simple mix-up.
“I literally walked into the wrong class.” Proof, perhaps, that occasionally the wrong turn leads us exactly where we need to be.
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