Around our house we are septuagenarians and sexagenarians who love yoga and do it regularly. The five of us have also been doing yoga for a combined total of about 150 years. Because of our enthusiasm for the discipline of yoga, it doesn’t even feel like a sacrifice to get up in the morning to practice.
This week when we were all out in the Yoga Shed at 7 to 8:45 in the morning, practice was even more enjoyable. We were participating in a six-day ‘intensive’ and joined for it by nine other enthusiasts. An ‘intensive’ group which meets for a short time is really a temporary community; we look forward to seeing each individual in the group and feeling how they contribute in a synergistic way to our yoga progress.
The age bracket of the intensive group was about 17 to 70 which is the amazing all-ages thing about yoga. Babies in utero do yoga with their pregnant mums, eventually can do kids yoga, and hopefully stick with it into maturity.
One of the fastest growing demographics of yoga students is seniors.
It makes sense. A huge disadvantage (there are many) of the ageing process is the way in which our bodies tend to stiffen up. The intelligent stretching of yoga poses restores suppleness. Regarding strength and stamina, we know as we age our muscles will gradually will lose strength if they aren’t taxed. The ideal yoga practice calibrates exercise so that the practitioner can regain and maintain strength, without injury.
I often hear from students that they wish they had started yoga at a younger age, but it’s also true that it’s never too late. For my part, I feel like I walk in grace and good health each day with the support of my yoga practice – not just physically, but emotionally, mentally and spiritually.
Of course, my well-being could change at any time in the snap of the fingers, but I would hope that yoga has given me some tools to help deal with any alterations in my circumstances.
My fond wish is that this blog, my yoga practice and my teaching inspire an audience of any age to practice yoga.
Speaking of age, here’s a short video that I found inspiring. It shows eighty-six year old, Johanna Quaas, competing in two gymnastics events, as she says, ‘just for the fun of it’.
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