I didn’t start practicing yoga until my early 50’s. A life of unhealthy eating, lack of exercise and, worst of all, being a smoker for most of my adult life, finally caught up with me. I had one health problem after another and ended up in the hospital with pneumonia, respiratory problems of all kinds, high blood pressure and badly deteriorated knee joints due to arthritis and carrying too much weight around. The terrified looks on the faces of my children and my grandchildren in my hospital room was the final wake-up call. I had to take back control of my health and my life.
Since I worked behind a desk eight hours a day, five days a week, I had to find a way to incorporate exercise and movement into my life. I did go for short walks at lunchtime with some of the other women from the office, but after returning to my desk and sitting another three hours or more, my joints were tight and sore. Clearly high intensity aerobics was also not an option because of the breathing problems I was still dealing with. I had to find another means of exercise that would put me on the road to wellness.
My oldest daughter, Tara, gave me the answer to my problem: yoga. She had started a home practice herself using videos and found that it worked wonders. She gifted me with some videos and some cute and comfortable yoga pants. I protested at first that I was never going to be able to twist myself into a pretzel and stand on one foot like a flamingo at my age and in my physical condition. She told me to watch the first video and then decide whether I thought I wasn’t a candidate for yoga. So I popped in the tape (this was pre-DVD) and took a look.
The woman teaching the class had three women with her with varying levels of flexibility and strength. Each pose was done with modifications to fit each woman’s ability. After watching the woman at the beginner level moving easily into the poses, I was ready to admit that even I could follow along. So I got myself a yoga mat, got into my cute and comfy yoga pants, and gave it a try.
For the next several months I would get up at 5:30 a.m. and do a 30 minute practice from the video, followed by a warm shower. Slowly but surely I began to feel my joints become more flexible, less painful and
Yoga For Everyone
By Barb Parcells