Yoga is for older people, too

Yoga better be for older people, too, because I’m not going to stop practicing anytime soon.  Even though I haven’t even reached my 50th birthday yet, it’ll come soon enough and I don’t want to dig myself into a grave just because I’m hitting the big five-O.  It’s my belief that hitting midlife is not a time to think about the things we should have done, it’s a time to embrace life to the fullest, and begin a life with new meaning and vitality. 

I hope to be doing yoga well into my golden years, and I look forward to always living my life as a yogi and empowering others of advanced age to embrace yoga as a part of their lifestyle, too, so that they may live long and happy lives.  I may not be able to do everything that I can do now, but what I want to be is alert, flexible, and healthy, and be able to balance myself on my own two feet without falling.

According to a 2008 study —  ”Yoga in America” – by Yoga Journal, featured in an article called “Older Adults Increasingly Turn to Yoga for Health,” by John Hanc, (AARP Bulletin Today, June 9, 2009), “49 percent of those who practice say they are doing it to improve their overall health.  Most of these people tend to be younger: The study also found that among the estimated 15.8 million Americans who currently practice yoga, 40.6 percent are ages 18 to 34.  But more older adults are now taking their place on the mats alongside them.  According to the study, 18.4 percent of practitioners are now over 55.” 

It’s never too late for women in midlife to start a yoga practice. And you don’t have to step into — and you shouldn’t step right into — a power yoga class meant for 20-somethings.  There are many gentle yoga and restorative classes meant for older people just starting out.  “Whether you’re already active or sedentary, you need to be extremely careful in choosing the type of yoga you become involved in,” says Dixie Stanforth, a lecturer in exercise science at the University of Texas at Austin.  Most times, women find themselves suffering from chronic illnesses or stress-related conditions that prompt them to seek medical attention, and a means to make themselves feel better overall.   “One reason that a great number of older adults are showing up at yoga studios is because their doctors have recommended it,” says John Hanc. Most older people seek yoga as a means to maintain chronic conditions such as type 2 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, depression, scoliosis, and heart disease, to name a few. The benefits of yoga are far reaching, and age doesn’t matter.

If you’re at midlife and you want to start yoga, may I recommend you get yourself a copy of Pat Shapiro’s Yoga for Women at Midlife and Beyond. It’s an easy read, and the illustrated poses are doable for women at any age.
 
Photo credit:  www.patshapiro.com