How Old is Old?

May 5, 2013 | Dhyana, Pranayama, Yoga practices | 1 comment

bharadavajasana
In our household of six people, the average age is 66-2/3 yrs. I’d like to say that we’re all completely healthy and free from any complaints, but that’s not the case.
I’d like to say that 60 is the new 50, but, hey, really?
At this time, we have one recovering from hip surgery, another rehabilitating from knee surgery, three people on weight loss diets, one anticipating (?) cataract surgery, and quite a collection of meds being ingested on a regular basis.
Probably we would qualify as relatively normal for our age bracket.
Five of the six of us do yoga regularly. It doesn’t necessarily mean we are always paragons of well-being but we do have a ready companion to make the best of our health into our older years. I think it is especially helpful to keep up pranayama and meditation, the practices that can become more lustrous as we age.
I like this quote by B.K.S. Iyengar from Light on Life, on what his yoga practice means to him:

The miracle is that after seventy years, the gifts [of yoga] are still increasing for me….If you think that learning to touch your toes or even stand on  your head is the whole of yoga, you have missed most of its beauty.”

 

1 Comment

  1. The age of can not determine the fitness level, a person of 35 years can be less fit than an 55 years old. In our studio we have a person of 68 who does asanas which no 30 year old can do…

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