Age

What are Shedders and What do They Do?

What are Shedders and What do They Do?

For the seventh time this year, and over past years, too, I’ve been featured in the media.
Is this because I’m a celebrity yoga teacher? Not at all… Even though one of these media exposures was a full page interview of me in Focus Magazine to promote the upcoming Ekam Yoga Festival.
Most of my renown has happened because my housemates and I have become the darlings of how-to-do-retirement-better media coverage.

Combat Ageing? It’s More Fun Partying!

Combat Ageing? It’s More Fun Partying!

“I can’t believe Eve Grzybowski is 70. She’s a walking advertisement for the benefits of yoga to combat ageing.”
When I read the above Facebook comment, which is obviously meant to be a compliment, I smiled. It brought up images of me in battle gear, all manner of weapons in hand, throwing myself against the cruel onslaught of Time.
Nothing could be further from the truth. My seventy years have shown me that time marches inevitably foreward. Fighting its effects, I’ve noticed, is not only futile but exhausting.
BTW, I don’t do yoga to thwart ageing. […]

Old Age: What's the Big Deal?

Old Age: What's the Big Deal?

In the lead-up to my 70th birthday in December, I’ve been playing with the idea of declaring myself old. This is my way of getting used to the idea. After all, at some point I have to own my age, and ‘old’ is just a word, isn’t it?
I know there are many people of advanced years who don’t want to own up to their age. For the most part in our society, old has a pejorative connotation. Middle aged isn’t so bad. Being called a senior is still on the soft side. […]

Yoga is Perfect for Seniors

Yoga is Perfect for Seniors

via Pinterest
I admire older individuals who put aside their fears and considerations and come to yoga for the first time. These 50 to 80 year olds are what I call the ‘grey warriors’. By joining a class at this late stage, they are setting off on the adventure of a lifetime. […]

Losing Gracefully

Losing Gracefully

From the above title, you might think I’m going to be writing about a tennis match or a disagreement with my spouse.
But no, this is much more serious. I’m talking about losing memory, losing faculties, and losing muscle strength. I’m talking about The March of Time.
I came across an excellent blog post this week from Eve Johnson, another tribute to yoga guru, B.K.S. Iyengar. She got me thinking about the process of ageing. I know, I know, I’m getting obsessed with this topic.
I think I’m doing ageing reasonably well. […]

The Burgeoning Field of Yoga Therapeutics

The Burgeoning Field of Yoga Therapeutics

Tomorrow I’m heading off to the yoga capital of Australia, Byron Bay.
I’m part of the faculty of a Yoga Therapy course that is run annually at this time of year over the course of 12 days.
My particular contribution to the course is in the area of Yoga for the Aged, which it would seem I am qualified to teach by dint of my advanced years and experience!
I thought it fitting to contribute a-therapy-pose-a-day to “Yoga Suits Her” this week in case you are interested in seeing what some of these poses look like. […]

The Bliss of Hanging Out with the Goddesses

The Bliss of Hanging Out with the Goddesses

I’m a tribal person, an extrovert who likes being around people I like, many of whom are women.
For the last eight years, I’ve lived with my husband and two other couples in a co-housing situation. This means that I am blessed to have two other women at my fingertips, who offer female fun, understanding and life skills.
Over 34 years of directing yoga schools, teaching classes, and training teachers, women have formed the majority of my students. That’s yoga for you. I asked a male swami one time why he thought yoga attracted more women than men. […]

Yoga and the ‘D’ Word

Yoga and the ‘D’ Word

What kind of person would enrol for a course called, ‘Midwifeing Death’*?
As it turns out, I am that sort of person.
Not only did I not hesitate to sign up for the course, but I did so without fully comprehending what it might involve.
I do know that death and dying are happening all around us every moment of every day, but as I live my busy life, I scarcely notice. […]

Cah-razy: The Hard-to-Imagine-But-Somehow-You-Did-It Thing

Cah-razy: The Hard-to-Imagine-But-Somehow-You-Did-It Thing

via pinterest
My husband and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary last week. For many people this milestone could be considered an improbable achievement, given that the median duration of marriage was 12.2 years in 2012.
Twenty years of marriage is almost time enough to experience three seven year itches. It’s time enough to fall into dull routines and think that you’ve said everything there is to say to each other. […]

Old Dog, New Tricks

Old Dog, New Tricks

via Pinterest
I’ve been entertaining the notion for a while of relaunching my Yoga Suits Her blog with the above title, ‘Old Dog, New Tricks’. What I want to convey is the idea that I’m the Old Dog, and I’m still mentally and physically flexible enough to learn new skills.
After surveying a few friends and not meeting with resounding enthusiasm regarding my clever title, I abandoned the new name. […]

The Yoga Life: A Good Time and Maybe a Long Time

The Yoga Life: A Good Time and Maybe a Long Time

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. […]

Dealing with Senior Moments and Brain Farts – Be Kind to Yourself

Dealing with Senior Moments and Brain Farts – Be Kind to Yourself

 via pinterest
Do you consider yourself forgetful? Have you misplaced valuable items and been too embarrassed to mention your lapses to others? Are you fearful that you are becoming increasingly forgetful with age? What about those words that are just on the tip of your tongue that turn out to be as effervescent as champagne bubbles? And, the people who you meet on the street whose names you should know as well as your own… but for whom you only draw an embarrassing blank?
Welcome to my world. […]

Go on: Just Say 'Yes'!

Go on: Just Say 'Yes'!

I’ve recently been experiencing A Rough Patch.
This is the week when Roma Blair died, age 90. She was considered the mother of yoga in Australia; she taught and inspired thousands of students over the years with her verve and commitment to well-being through yoga.
Much less known than Roma, my brother-in-law Jack passed away at 75 years old in California, leaving Becca without her beloved partner. […]

Old is the New New

Old is the New New

I’m a competitive person. I don’t mean to be. I don’t really want to be. But despite having taught yoga for many years, there it is: I’m still competitive. 
A little of this personality quirk leaked out into the class the other day when I was demonstrating chaturanga dandasana – you know, the yoga push-up position – a pose that many people love to hate. I finished up by saying to the students, ‘if the oldest person in the room can do this, then you should at least be able to give it a try. […]

What If We All Pull Together?

What If We All Pull Together?

More than 25 years ago, I saw a movie that crystallised a deep longing I’d held perhaps all my life. You might remember the film – Witness? If you don’t remember the film, you might remember a relatively young Harrison Ford playing a cop who has to hide out in an Amish community. He’s deemed an outsider but the community takes him in anyway and protects him.
One particular scene did me in. The Harrison Ford character participates with the Amish people in a ‘barn raising’. […]

A Pose Poised as Lovely as a Tree

A Pose Poised as Lovely as a Tree

 
 

via pinterest
I’ve recently heard of a few people who have suffered falls related to various medical conditions: vision impairment, alzheimer’s, faints, and cancer.
While younger people might pick themselves up, dust themselves off and move on, falling can lead to more serious problems in the aged population. Some will suffer bone fractures and breaks but also the gradual diminution of confidence. This may lead to loss of independence and perhaps the eventual need to move into an aged care facility.
Yoga is often touted as beneficial for improving the sense of balance. […]

Natural Erosion?

Natural Erosion?

 
Our closest beach on Mitchells Island has lost about a half kilometre of its length in the last couple of years. That’s a big chunk.
The area concerned is at the mouth of the Manning River, but the dunes all along in a southerly direction, including Old Bar Beach, are seriously eroded, too.
The encroachment of the sea has devastated the little tern breeding ground. These tiny birds are very vulnerable and have been declared endangered. […]

Yoga Practice: What’s It For?

Yoga Practice: What’s It For?

comfortinstylemag.com via Pinterest
If you have been doing yoga fairly regularly, has your practice improved over the years? What I’m talking about is your ability to do more and more advanced asanas over time.
Isn’t this what motivates many people when they take up yoga classes? They have noticed a gradual deterioration of certain physical abilities and they’ve heard that yoga might be able to fix this decline and even improve their condition.
It is true that there are myriad benefits that accrue from doing yoga routinely. […]

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