In my youth I was a British International gymnast part of the British Team from 1972 until 1980. I was lucky enough to have some of the best coaches in the country, amongst them Mrs Pauline Prestidge MBE a great advocate of Yogic techniques for strength and conditioning. Mr John Atkinson MBE, a legend in British gymnastics, Mr Bill McLaughlin, Senior lecturer in Anatomy, Physiology,Statistics and Biomechanics, at St Marys University Twickenham. from 1966 till 1994, as well as our current British Team Coach Mr Colin Still, during my time at Loughton Gymnastic Club. It was the communication skills of these great coaches that made me understand bio mechanics, by telling me the "WHY" behind what they were asking me to do, which made my training that much more purposeful, thus easier to endure.In 1976 I won a scholarship and went to Vladimir in Russia to work with the top coaches in the World. Adjustments made to my training practices were finite and made me understand further, that working towards and applying correct technique and alignment, took a lot of the blood, sweat and tears out of training.That same year I became World Junior Champion on the Asymmetric Bars and was part of the Silver medal winning team at the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Canada, in 1978., an injured ankle prevented me from taking part in the 1980 Olympics.Later in my life, trying to find something to help with stress, I discovered yoga, What I had not realised was how amazingly powerful the breathing techniques were, when applied to physical movement and also how the stress of high level competition, could have been improved had I learnt these techniques, when I was training. As well as an extraordinary amount of other benefits, the slow pace of yoga allows the athlete to become much more aware of themselves and their body, and potential injury risks can be flagged up early. In the 80's I went on from my gymnastic career to become a stuntwoman working on James Bonds 'Octopussy' and for those who remember A Benny Hill girl, often also standing in for the little man they pat on the head.