Start Recovery, the Leeds based private drug & alcohol counselling service has added Mens Kundalini Yoga for men in recovery to their list of ongoing aftercare help. Part of Kundalini Yoga Leeds is one of Start Recovery's new aftercare options for men who are in recovery from drug, alcohol or any other addiction.
Mark Franklin, Start Recovery's owner has been practising Kundalini Yoga since 2014 and has recently finished his Yoga teacher training at the Kundalini University, USA. Mark talked to us a little about how this all came about, "I first found Kundalini Yoga when looking for a gentle exercise routine close to my home in Adel, Leeds. I enquired about Yoga at my local gym and there was an opening for a new course of Kundalini Yoga. I had done a few exercises already through Tommy Rosen and his Recovery 2.0 prgramme, and it was just by chance that the Yoga that was starting in my gym was Kundalini Yoga. I then went on to train in Vancouver, Canada for 2 consectative years at a yoga mens camp pre-Covid. Towards the end of lockdown my teacher Guru Singh set up the Kundalini University with Brett Larkin. This intense 6 month online teacher training brought all of my experiences together with Kundalini Yoga into a digestable format which allowed me to develop and practice my teaching style". Mark goes on to say, "The amount of content and the way Guru Singh and Brett have devised the training is amazing and I truly feel honered to have been a part of this transformative aspect of my life. Since starting my Yoga teacher training I have dropped over a stone and a half and I feel fitter, healthier, more alert and more content than I have done in over 20 years!".
Mark is coming up to his 10th annivesary of stopping drinking alcohol and I asked him how that felt...., "Its really amazing, its like 2 sepeate lives, or 2 different people. When I look back on my life and compare what I used be like to how I choose to live my life now. When I stopped drinking I started learning again and I havent stopped learning since that day, I had to strip everything back and re-learn many, many things. Its quite ironic that my stop date was Nov 5th as we would always have a big boozy bonfire party round at ours. Now I watch the fireworks wherever we are with my family and it helps to remind me how far I have come. I nearly lost everything, including my family and my life! How do I feel?.... I feel blessed".
Kundalini Yoga Leeds first intake is now full, but the second rolling set of mens beginner Kundalini Yoga begins on Nov 12th at 8am - 9am at The Old Stables, Adel , Leeds LS16. If you are male and you always fancied trying yoga then please get in touch with Mark on 07899 391456, or email on mark@kundaliniyogaleeds.com or help@startrecovery.co.uk.