A Dundee man who only five years ago relied on a wheelchair and crutches to get around has gone on to enjoy a complete change in fortunes, fuelled by his passion for yoga.
Finlay Wilson (24) is an expert in the ancient craft, having started the discipline shortly after undergoing major surgery when he was 19.
Up until that point the St Andrews University graduate lived a very different lifestyle to the one he enjoys now.
A “typical student,” Finlay admits he was overweight and enjoyed alcohol during his years of study. But his life was about to take a radical U-turn that would not only result in him becoming teetotal but alter his personality.
“For years I felt a constant grinding in my joints basically caused by bones rubbing together in my lower back,” Finlay said. “The problem was that my bones kept growing and eventually went through my leg ligaments, which left me unable to move one leg and causing blood problems in the other.”
Doctors operated on Finlay twice inside six months but both procedures left him worse off than when he started.
“The surgery wrecked my body,” he said. “At this time I couldn’t take weight on my legs and moved to my aunt’s house so that I never had to climb stairs.”
Finlay relied on a wheelchair and crutches to get around for about six months, causing significant pain in his lower back. To try to relieve some of the pressure he visited a physiotherapist and was then taken along to his first yoga class by his partner.
“I was the only guy in a room full of woman who were all very flexible, and there was me unable to touch my toes,” he said.
Despite an uneasy start, Finlay became hooked and firmly believes that yoga paved the way for his full physical recovery and emotional wellbeing.
“It took about a year to get back on my legs again and that was by doing yoga only twice a week. A year after that I started to do one hour at home before I started my day. If you take today, for example, I have already done two and a half hours.”
Finlay now teaches yoga and holds classes in Edinburgh and Dundee and has ambitious plans to open a yoga centre through his company Heart Space Dundee, at the former Koko’s play centre on Scott Street.
For more information or to contact Finlay visit www.heartspacedundee.co.uk