Coming Around to Gentle Yoga (Again)

I’ve long resisted letting yoga into my life. Over the decades since I was at university I’ve dropped in and out of yoga mode. I appreciate how yoga can enhance one’s life. I only have to look at Susan for evidence. I even happily agreed to Susan’s suggestion that we do a family yoga retreat at home in February of 2020. After that week I thought we might have found a practice that would work. 

Then I slipped and fell while hiking and severely injured my shoulder.  I lost any enthusiasm for many things, especially any activity that required lifting my left arm  - like yoga.  

Meanwhile, Susan was going deeper and deeper into her yoga practice. Next thing I knew, she’d left me in her dust. Me being me and male and damned if I’d admit it, I let myself ignore how I was losing so many of the advantages a well rounded fitness regime brings to life.  What a stubborn old fool I can sometimes be. 

Finding Purpose Together

Last December when the Covid epidemic that seemed like it would never let up interrupted our rambles, we had to fill our time. But how? We don’t golf. Daytime television game shows aren’t appealing. Pickling our livers with afternoon margaritas didn’t sound like a good idea. We needed to come up with something meaningful.

Well, it didn’t take long for Susan to think of a way to tap into her passion for yoga. She decided to become a yoga teacher. She found and completed a training program and will continue on to specialize in senior yoga.

And that’s where I come into the picture. I’m only a couple months past my 70th birthday, definitely a senior. And I’m always around. So I’m the perfect subject for Susan’s yoga for seniors.  I get personalized instruction and she gets a subject willing to spend all the time it takes to experiment with the different posture modifications that grumpy, stiff old men might require. 

But here’s where it gets interesting.  I’ve been fond of meditation since I was young. I've studied and tried many styles, but never connected meditation with yoga. For me yoga was a strange and uncomfortable workout. But as Susan learned about the ancient traditions of yoga, I did too. Then one day, almost like a mini-enlightenment, it occurred to me, yoga invited me to be present, to be aware of whatever was arising - physically and mentally - in EVERY MOMENT. Dang, yoga is meditation in motion.  

What a difference. I’m ready to learn more senior-safe yoga. Susan is ready to guide me. The best part is that as we are doing this together, each of us is ready to do what it takes to help the other succeed. That’s a win all around.