much stronger. My knees didn’t balk and complain over every set of steps I had to climb, and my walks with the ladies at lunchtime became easier. I started incorporating early morning walks on the weekends into my new health regime, utilizing the small track at the junior high school that was located behind my apartment building. By the end of the summer, I was up to four miles a day.
I started doing a little research into the entire subject of yoga. Most people in the West only think of yoga in terms of the poses and working out for physical health, but there are actually other facets of yoga that are equally beneficial. Known as The Eight Limbs of Yoga, they incorporate not only the poses (asana), but also meditation, breath work, building a spiritual life, service to others, guidelines for ethical behavior and peaceful living in the world. I started to rediscover meditation, something I had tried for a while in my younger days, and found that adding even as little as ten minutes at the end of my morning practice did wonders for how my day unfolded. Along with learning to eat better and finally giving up my awful smoking addiction, I was on the road to a healthy life. That is, until …
…until June of 2014 when I suffered a fractured hip and shoulder, and badly banged up knees caused by a fall on a badly patched piece of street near my home that my sneaker got caught up on. The shoulder and knees healed, although they are still sometimes tender, but the hip required surgery to put in three pins to put it back together. The result was eight weeks of what I referred to as “house arrest” because of the three flights of stairs I had to climb to get to my apartment. I spent almost the entire summer in my apartment, and if it wasn’t for my screened in porch so that I could at least enjoy being outside, I would have lost my mind. In August I was finally allowed to leave my apartment and do stairs again, and along with the exercises prescribed by my physical therapist, I slowly began the work of getting my strength and mobility back. However, I was certain that I was never going to be able to get down on a mat again and flow with the movements that had become as precious to me as breathing.
Just when I was ready to give up on the idea of ever being able to have a practice again, someone told me to go onto YouTube and type in “Chair Yoga.” There I found videos of folks just like me that had some physical issue that kept them from being able to do a regular practice, but who were still reaping the rewards of yoga through a series of modifications to the poses that were done sitting on a chair. Some of the people had permanent disabilities, and some were also recovering from surgical procedures. I decided I had nothing to lose so I pulled out a chair and followed along. Before long I could feel the old sense of ease and flexibility in my upper limbs, and my legs started to move with less pain and more ease. My breathing was slower and smoother, and little by little my life began to return to normal.
Since starting my chair yoga practice, I have gotten strong enough to begin to add a few standing poses to the practice. I still have some difficulty getting down on the floor and being on my knees, but I am working through them with the help of some online friends who are yoga teachers and are there to give me advice.
Years ago there was a program on PBS TV called, ‘Yoga for the Rest of Us.” The title couldn’t be more appropriate in my case, and it can be in yours, too. Yoga isn’t just for the young, thin and flexible. It is for everyone and anyone who wants to bring more strength and flexibility into their lives while also learning about mindfulness, correct breathing, and a host of other health-related benefits. If I can start a practice at 52, and still have it going at 68, anyone can! You won’t regret one Downward Dog pose, I promise!
34 | ElementsForAHealthierLife.com | August/September 2017