With Age Comes Wisdom.

Being “old” is relative. To my 15 year old daughter, I am “old”, but to my friends in their 80’s I’m a spring chicken. And besides, you’re only as old as you feel, right? I’m 45 years old, or young, depending on the day. Most days I get quite a shock when I look in the mirror and see the threads of grey mixed into my red toned hair and the crêpe paper skin showing up on my neck. I get a shock, because most days I still feel like I did in my 20s. In fact, most days I feel BETTER than I did in my 20s — goddess knows I certainly didn’t treat my body well back then! Now, don’t get me wrong, I know I’ve been blessed with good genes (I mean, laugh lines and crows feet are non-existent), but the inevitable signs of aging are starting to appear none the less. I’m now one of those women that forever has a pair of “cheaters” on her head (plus an extra pair by the bed, in my purse, and on my desk), and on more strenuous hikes I can feel some of the instability in my joints (I’m going on a ski trip next week — pray for me and my joints).

While being “old” might be relative, what is an absolute fact is that I am older now than I was when I started practicing yoga 16 years ago, and it shows in my practice. Not only has the ways I engage with the yoga practice changed, the physical practice itself has changed. With my changing perspective has also come changing goals when it comes to the practice of yoga. Sixteen years ago, when I started practicing yoga I was a young mom who wanted to fit in her pre-pregnancy clothes, be mobile, agile, and energetic enough to keep up with a toddler and an infant, and be patient and present with my young family. With age I’ve gained confidence and wisdom, and I no longer care what size clothes I fit into, I want to be mobile, agile, and energetic enough to enjoy the next phase of my life, I want to understand myself and my place in this world, I want to be happy and help others find their happiness.

When I was a 30 year old young mother I could hit all the chaturangas in a vinyasa practice, make a bind in utthita parsvakonasana, and easily twist my legs into lotus pose. Those things all came easily to me, and I worked hard physically to attain the poses that didn’t come easy. I very rarely used props in my practice, and I almost never needed to make modifications. My younger body was mobile, flexible, and strong.

Fast forward 16 years, instead of 10-20 chaturangas per practice I do 1-3, my shoulders haven’t let me make a bind in at least 5 years, and the last time I did a lotus pose I strained a ligament in my knee and couldn’t externally rotate my hip and flex my knee at the same time for months. I can still do those things, with lots and lots of preparation, but they are no longer important to me. As I age, extreme ranges of motion are less desirable, and being able to “pose” my body in ways that aren’t functional or useful in my every day life has lost its appeal (I mean, really, when does anyone ever need to get their foot into their opposite hip crease???). Now I practice to help counter the loss of flexibility and elasticity that comes with aging, I practice to maintain my strength, and keep my bones strong, I practice to keep my joints lubricated so they slide and glide with ease. Now I use blocks, blankets, straps and bolsters every day in my practice, I keep my knees down when I practice chaturanga (most of the time), and I modify my postures when my joints ache. I focus more on strength over flexibility, and active range of motion (what my joint can do on its own) vs passive range of motion (what my joint can do when there’s an outside force applied).

There’s no guarantee that a yoga practice will ease the aging process, but there’s a lot of evidence that in many cases it does. From studies that show yoga can reverse bone loss associated with osteoporosis, to studies that show yoga improves quality of life for those living with arthritis it seems pretty clear that yoga can be an important part of our health and wellness routine as we age. Research is even showing that yoga has important benefits that we can’t see — a positive impact on cellular aging, increased brain connectivity, and reducing age related and neurodegenerative declines.

All this is to say — stick with it! There are a number of times I could have given up my practice. It can be hard to come to terms with the fact that you just can’t do what you used to be able to do, but there’s beauty in that too. There’s something quite liberating about reaching a level of life experience where we realize the punishments we inflicted on ourselves when we were younger are no longer serving us. There’s wisdom and confidence that come with age, living life on your own terms and not trying to impress anyone. Just because you can’t balance on your hands anymore, or twist your self in knots, don’t quit.

So, be flexible (no pun intended), let go of your ideas about what a yoga practice should be or what a “real” yogi looks like. Be willing to engage with your practice in a different way. Use the props, make the modifications, skip the poses that don’t work for you. But keep moving, keep going. You’ll feel good, and you’re only as old as you feel!