THE BAD NEWS If you don’t put in any effort you will get weaker and stiffer as you get older. You will become less mobile making it harder to stay active and healthy, and to enjoy the last decades of your life.
THE GOOD NEWS With effort you can get stronger, more flexible and improve your balance at any age. There is a lot of fantastic exercise styles targeting strength. But there is nothing that comes close to yoga for improving strength, flexibility, posture, balance and relaxation skills at the same time. It is NEVER too late to start yoga.
I have been teaching yoga to all ages for nearly 20 years now, and I am continually delighted at how much a simple and regular yoga practice is helping myself and my students to feel stronger, looser and generally more relaxed at the same time.
I urge anyone who is into healthy body and mind to get some yoga practice into their life. Find a teacher you like, go to a regular class, and eventually do some at home. There’s nothing mystical or complicated about a good yoga practice. It’s just simple and practical exercises you can use to improve your physical and mental health, and slow down the ageing process.
People ask me what style of yoga I teach. I have studied many styles of Yoga as well as Pilates, Human Movement and Psychology (UWA), and modern exercise physiology. So the style I teach is a fusion of whatever works! I’m interested in health and longevity of joints and the heart, so nothing extreme in order to avoid increased wear and tear. Just sensible moderate low impact exercise. Yoga, walking, cycling and swimming rule for the over 35s! Do all four regularly for excellent health.
I urge you to get on the internet and find the following highly inspiring older people. See what is possible in your 80s and 90s!!!
1) Michael Clarke – a retired WA doctor who took up yoga at 70. See what he achieved in 10 years. Amazing! ( www.yogamichael.com)
2)Tao Porchen-Lynch – a 96 year old yoga teacher who took up ballroom dancing at 85. She’s unbelievable. (you-tube Tao Porchen-Lynch) 3)Vivien Vieritz – a 92 year old yoga teacher from Queensland. Another inspiration to start yoga and keep it up. (google her name)
