Yoga teacher Kim Hughes of ‘Wellbeing with Kim” reveals how a disability nearly led to her losing out on her dream job

WHEN Kim Hughes first started practising yoga she would get to the class 45 minutes early so she could bag a mat at the back of the room.

Born without the fingers on her right hand, she always went out of the way to make herself less conspicuous.

“I had been so self-conscious of my hand since I was a child,” said Kim, from Lymington. “It was very difficult when I was young, it was the 70s and I knew no one like me.

“There was little understanding of disability then. When I was born my mum says I was literally whisked away from her immediately, as if there was something dreadfully wrong with me and not returned for two weeks.”

Kim tried to cover up her disability as much as she could. When she began a career in finance she would be one of the quietest people in the office, so she did not draw attention to herself.

“There was nothing like the Paralympics then,” she said. “There was no one on television with disabilities and of course no internet.

“So if you had a condition like mine you did feel quite isolated and feared what peoples’ reaction would be.”

Ten years ago Kim left her job to set up her own accounts business, but it was when she started going to yoga classes that she really discovered what she was capable of.

She said: “I absolutely loved it. I found it really scary at the beginning. But after a few classes it was like a door opening.

“One of the things yoga taught me was that everyone has their own fears and, unlike mine, they are not always visible.

“It gave me real confidence and I realised that I was no different to anyone else.”

It was a conversation with her yoga teacher about wanting to lead her own class that led Kim to completely change her career

“I thought, imagine someone like me being up there in front of people,” she said. “How amazing would that have been to my younger self that someone like me could do that?”

She told her yoga teacher that she felt she could never train to be what she is because of her hand, but says her reaction was “Why not?”

Kim said: “I realised she was right - I mean there is a saying that confidence is on the other side of fear, and that was what was holding me back; fear.

“I did the training and started the classes and it has been absolutely wonderful.”

Kim’s disability has in fact led to her being involved in some big projects, such as working with a prosthetic limb company at a big exhibition show in London.

She said: “It was to show that people with limb loss can do yoga and other exercise. For example, if someone was missing a leg they could use a prosthetic and even do a downward dog.”

Kim is also working with several charities which support people with limb loss, which she says is something she “absolutely loves.”

She now runs her own, called ‘Wellbeing with Kim”. Aside from teaching classes in her private yoga studio, Kim is also a mindset and nutrition coach.

She said: “I am so glad I found yoga and changed my life. There are so many people out there who want to do something different and I’m proof you can. It is only fear that holds us back.”

For more information on Kim’s services, visit: https:www.wellbeingwithkim.com