Julie Montagu on taking yoga beyond the mat in the In The Moment Magazine podcast

Julie Montagu is a yogi, nutritionist and yoga teacher who recently headlined the Wanderlust 108 event in London, and yoga has a real influence on her life beyond her practice.

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Julie's yoga journey started after she'd given birth to her fourth child. "Having one child is hard enough but having four – it's impossible," she says.

After having children, she felt that she'd lost her identity as she was putting all of her energy into parenting. Her husband was ill at the time as well, so it was a double-whammy.

"My whole life became almost like Groundhog day," she says. "I'd wake up and it was the same thing over and over again and I definitely lost my sense of self.

"At this point I was in my mid-30s and I just needed something and I didn't even know what it was."

A friend took her to a vinyasa yoga class. "It was like no other class I'd done before," she says. "I liked the physicality behind it."

She ended up walking out of the class in floods of tears but feeling wonderful and decided that she needed to have this feeling every single day.

Julie went on to train as a teacher because she says she never wants anyone to feel as bad about themselves as she did before she took up yoga.

Many people ask Julie how she finds the time to do so much yoga. "How do I find the time? I make the time."

She looks ahead each week and finds five classes that will fit in with her schedule. "Nothing apart from a child emergency gets in the way of doing my yoga and I get way more done – and I'm much more effective – when I've done my yoga."

Julie believes that feeling better and taking time to look after yourself will mean that you're happier and more productive in the long run. You can't help other people unless you've looked after yourself after all.

Wanderlust 108 will be returning to Battersea Park in London next year. To get the latest updates, please sign up to the newsletter via wanderlust.com.

You can follow Julie on Instagram @juliemontagu.