‘ Yoga's Given Me A Better Body!'

She’s known for her love of walking, but Julia Bradbury has a new fitness passion that’s helped her get super-toned...

- Selina Maycock

Forget the Proclaimers, when it comes to walking 500 miles, you can guarantee Julia Bradbury would walk 500 more. but while the mum-of-three eats, sleeps and breathes walking and all things associated with the great outdoors, she’s also been devoting more time to another fitness passion lately.

‘I’m feeling good. I’m doing more yoga than I used to. I’ve got a yoga teacher that a friend and I share, so he comes round to mine once a week. I’m being purely selfish but that’s easier for me – all it means is I have to provide the tea but that’s fine. We have a double session which is great, it’s motivation, it makes it cheaper because you’re splitting the costs and it’s fun.’

It’s a cost-savvy way to really focus on developing your skills, as she explains. ‘Having that kind of tuition is always valuable because you learn more about your body and you’ve got someone who can really focus on getting the moves right.’

All her hard work has started paying off as Julia, who’ll be 48 on 24 July, has progressed to more challenging Powerflow Yoga and turns her energy to working each pose properly. ‘I’m quite bendy – I think I’m hypermobile,’ she reveals. ‘Sometimes I can get into poses easily but I think historically I’ve been relaxed in the pose and not really working it. So now I’m really focused on trying to pull in my core, tuck everything in and stay in that pose rather than comfortably slouching into it. You can really feel it.’