Your Ground Yoga - Yoga for where you are  myths about yoga in later life

I started practicing yoga when I was 50 I love to travel, and it began to dawn on me that things like strong knees were an important part of living that dream I did, in fact, learn how to keep knees strong and flexible – and this will be part of a new class I am starting in Le Tallud in September aimed at people 50 and older – but I learned so much more about how to deprogram my body from the habits of a lifetime There are a number of myths about practicing yoga as an older person, so let’s get into it

1 Yoga is only for the young

Yoga is an approach to life The system of yoga traditionally included physical movements and postures but is not limited to this alone Conscious breathing and mindfulness are also a big part of yoga Yoga is much more about the HOW, than the WHAT We can apply the yoga approach to much simpler exercises that can become part of one’s routine no matter what our age

2. Okay, so maybe yoga isn’t just for the young, but you have to start at a young age to make any real improvement

I’ve had students in their 80s After only a few weeks they were doing things they couldn’t do before It is true that it is harder to change the body as we age because we have become ‘frozen’ into certain postures and body habits Yoga offers us methods for ‘unthawing’ those habits Our bodies CAN change given regular practice and patience

3 Yoga is about twisting yourself into a pretzel

I find it a shame that most images of yoga are of young, beautiful (and ultra-toned!) women holding advanced yoga poses against the background of a beach at sunset or something similar In later life, yoga is less about getting into the ‘correct’ posture and more about learning to be aware of what is going on in the body The definition of an ‘advanced’ position changes as a result of exploring your own boundaries

4. You need to be able to sit on the floor to do yoga

For some people sitting on the floor, and getting up from the floor, is already a step too far Did you know that you can practice yoga while sitting in a chair, as long as the chair is stable? I can’t emphasize enough that yoga is not a set of proscribed physical postures but an entire attitude to physical and mental health Yoga begins with where you are RIGHT NOW, no matter what that looks like Yoga does not begin where someone else is or where you used to be, or where your inner critic expects you to be Finding that place, and being honest and unapologetic about it, is a lesson in itself

In short, there is a yoga for every stage of life, and the particular challenges of old age can most certainly become less daunting if we learn how to work with our bodies again

For information on lessons and classes or questions about yoga, you can contact me at lavieenyoga@gmail com

As always, respect yourself, explore yourself

For information on yoga and breathe better courses contact: lavieenyoga@gmail com

Rebecca Novick