Bettystown man bending over backwards to promote the power of yoga

A BETTYSTOWN man who says yoga cured chronic pain that he had been suffering with for years is on mission to show others the benefits of the ancient practice.

Ben Colgan admits being "the biggest sceptic" of the exercise discipline until he saw first hand how it can transform your life.

The dad of two fell in love with yoga so much so that he trained in the practice and has started teaching his own classes in Julianstown under the name Wild Geese Yoga and just last month held a charity event for two causes close to his heart.

"I had really bad chronic pain in my feet about ten years ago and I tried every kind of western treatment for two years including physiotherapy, cortisol injections, botox injections, I even had casts made trying to heal them and nothing worked," remembers Ben.

"I started yoga and the pain reduced in my feet by about 80 percent within three weeks," he added.

"That was a huge awakening for me and then I fell in love with it due to how good it made me feel and how my mental health improved drastically as well.

"But I was the biggest sceptic of it, I didn't believe it would help me but now I can't imagine being without it.

"I was probably the only guy in the class back then, now I go to some classes now that are 50/50 which is brilliant."

Another reason Ben was inspired to start teaching yoga was to offer help to those playing sport.

"I started paying Gaelic football a couple of years ago with St Colmcilles having started becoming involved with coaching for my son's Benjamin (9) and Theo (6) teams.

"You see the injuries of the guys who are training so hard and I felt like there should be a compliment there for conditioning and stretching the fascia.

The fascia is a thin casing of connective tissue that surrounds and holds every organ, blood vessel, bone, nerve fibre and muscle in place. The fascia needs to be looked at as a whole entire body.

"Our (Wild Geese Yoga) class can be for everyone but the Asana practice (movement) is quite the physical work out with some lovely breath work and meditation on either side!

"I did my training with Barbara Babs Carolan in Yoga Boann in Duleek who is just amazing."

To mark the Winter Solstice on 21st December, Ben held a 'Yoga 108 Sun Salutes' challenge to raise funds for two important organisations close to his heart. One of these was Drogheda Women's Refuge where his late mum, Mary Colgan worked with service users as a social worker.

"Part of yoga is giving back, if you look at the eight limbs of Yoga, one of them is Karma.

"You should be giving back to the community in some sort of way whether that's through a free class or something else.

"My mum was a social worker in Drogheda throughout the 1990s and she would have worked with families in Drogheda Women 's Refuge.

"She passed away very suddenly with heart failure in 2000 when she 49 so It is kind of a tip of the hat to her.

"I always think that if you bring them with you, they are never gone.

"I also chose St Colmcilles who have been so good to me and my boys."

Ben and a group of friends completed the 108 sun salutes on the astroturf pitch of the GAA Club raising €1200 which will be divided between the two causes.

"108 is a sacred number in Yoga tradition in India and a sun salute is an entire movement where you reach up to the sky, plant your hands to the ground and go back to plank position, down to a press up and come up into up dog pose and down to Downward Dog.

"We weren't long warming up on that cold December morning!"