HOW TO BEGIN YOGA AT 50 OR OLDER

Picking up yoga when you are 50 or older can be daunting. You keep justifying yourself:  but I am not flexible…but I am overweight…but I am [fill in the blank another excuse].

You have read about yoga, you have recognized that it might be good for you and you have thought that you may try it one day. You have even collected some brochures and perhaps even made an attempt to visit a yoga studio, but hesitation prevails.

There are many questions, many doubts and so many concerns. Trust me you are not alone. 
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On every corner there is yoga studio. Splashed all over health magazines and social media are images of young bodies performing intricate yoga poses. It is no wonder that people like you are so intimidated by the prospect of starting up yoga. 

I am here to help you to overcome your fears and to become a healthy person you have always wanted to be.
Let’s stop and think for a moment: at 50 you could be in the middle of your life! Imagine that you can cruise through your next 50 years with even greater health then you have today. Imagine that you could not only improve your health, but also lengthen your life expectancy, wouldn’t you do it?

Let me introduce myself. I am 62, a yoga teacher and I run Avirit Yoga & Wellebeing Centre a yoga studio in Ormond, Melbourne. I have practiced yoga for 25 years and have been teaching for 20. The age of my students varies from 25 to 82.
As I get older and my students do too, their passion for yoga grows exponentially. I can see with my very eyes, people’s lives being transformed. They become alive, they feel happy and less stressful. 

The beauty is that you can practice yoga until your last breath. Contrary to a popular belief, yoga is not a physical exercise. Yoga is an art of living. If practiced regularly, it enhances your state of health and wellbeing, regardless of age.

Embrace the real essence of yoga.

There are the list of the benefits of yoga that I experienced myself and observe in my regular students:

• Weight management
• Promotes an digestion and elimination of food
• Better sleeping pattern
• Improves posture
• Lessen or eliminates headaches due to postural improvement
• Improves joints mobility and therefore eliminates or lessen joints pain
• Strengthen muscular skeletal system
• Reduces or eliminates anxiety or/and depression
• Improve balance

Before you decided to embark on the journey to yoga, talk to your doctor to identify any health issues. Ensure you provide your yoga teacher with all your health history on your first class. A professional yoga teacher will ask about your health and will guide your practice based on its current state of health. A quality teacher should design or adjust poses to suit you. As one of my colleagues once said: “We match the pose to suit the body, not the body to suit the pose”. 

At the beginning, try to attend gentle yoga classes, to allow yourself to get used to the whole idea of the art of yoga. Begin slowly and proceed with caution. There is no need to force yourself into any pose or position in order to look like other people. This is YOUR journey to yoga and you go at your own pace.

Find a yoga teacher who understands aging body and attend classes where students are of a similar age to yours.

Another important point: find a yoga teacher who you comfortable with. If, for whatever reason, you are not comfortable with the teacher - find another one. At the end of the day, you are the one who needs to enjoy it.

Once you are happy with your teacher, the studio and the time of your classes – stick to it. Do not let any excuse to take you off the road to a happier you. Consistency is the key to success in every endeavor: work, relationship and yoga too. There is a long journey ahead of you, hopefully another 50 years. Best of luck. 

Sincerely,
Alla Selisher
Founder of Avirit Yoga & Wellbeing Centre
https://www.avirityogastudio.com.au/

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