Last weekend I was an attendee at an inspiring weekend retreat of yoga and rest. Time away from day-to-day life to immerse myself in my practice, and to reconnect to the ancient wisdom underpinning it. 

Ancient Wisdom
 The lead teacher was Sriram who rather impressively has been teaching yoga since 1977. He has encyclopaedic knowledge of the Yoga Sutra, and great insights into practice and philosophy, plus incredible stamina!
 
The Yoga Sutra is an ancient wisdom text and is the foundation of what I teach in yoga classes. We study it, chant it, understand as many of the rich teachings as possible and embody them in our mat practice to help bring them into everyday life. They are as relevant now as they were 2,000 years ago.
 
Sriram's sessions were lively and had me attempting things that were seemingly impossible. I say seemingly impossible because he is in his 70s and managed to do things that I simply couldn't get close to. He wasn't showing off. He sort of expected us to be able to do some things, and then adjusted it to be more accessible when he realised we couldn't. Apparently it all starts by playing Kabaddi as a kid. 
 
There is always something you can do
 Whether you have limited energy or mobility or come to yoga much later in life which many of us do. The practice will always meet us where we are and works its magic when we keep showing up to our practice consistently over time. Find the right starting point and benefit from there. 
 
Our mat practice embodies a profound philosophy to bring us to a place of greater contentment with life, no matter what our hamstrings, knees or or state of physical health are up to. It brings us to a place of greater equanimity, that lovely calm glow at the end of class, where our life-challenges don't feel as daunting. 
 
My kids remind me of this every day at the moment, and my yoga practice shows up not just on my mat each morning, but in my mindset, my relative equanimity, and my open heart in the face of teenage angst and tantrums. 
 
 As I'm sure some of you know, parenting can mean holding a tough line sometimes, as long as it is done with clear intentions held with a loving heart. Both of which I cultivate on my mat each morning as I move and breathe. 

Yoga is transformative
If you find yourself with struggles in your life in any form, a yoga practice or class can help you transform how you feel about them and how you handle them. 
 
The strength, confidence, equanimity and clarity born out of a regular practice aren't there to simply make you feel good. Even though they do.
 
They are there to help you show up each day in the best way you can.
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Having done some recent work on yoga for the older age group (culminating in yoga suitable for those with hip replacements which is on the more extreme end of the scale of things to consider), and also having discussed it with some of the over 55s in my current group classes, it seemed that it would be good to put on a class especially for over 55s. Not because they aren't just as capable in many cases of working well in a mainstream class, but more to give that feeling of familiarity of the mix of people in the room.

As bodies get older, the impressions of life manifest themselves differently on different people. Knees, back problems, stiffnesses are different from person to person. Some people are strong and fit in their older years, others less so. The class will be a chance to offer a range of adaptations suitable to the people who attend the class and will be a safe and comfortable place to practice yoga.

Beyond our physical limitations, Ramaswami has also taught on yoga for the three stages of life and the type of yoga practices that would be recommended at different stages.

The first stage, the early years and childhood where the body is still growing and the mind is still maturing so a focus on asana (postures) is the emphasis.

The middle years where we are adults, working, raising families and having busy and full lives, where we maintain our health through asana and progress our pranayama (breath control) practice. Then the later years, when we are more reflective, the body is left with impressions of our lives, here the focus moves towards maintaining health through asana, pranayama along with developing meditation and reflection. The stages of life supported by the different limbs or petals of yoga. More on yoga and the stages of life are in this excellent book Yoga for the Three Stages of Life, Srivatsa Ramaswami.

Anyway, the new class, Yoga for Over 55s, will be starting on September 14th and will be from 11.15am until 12.15pm. Beginners very welcome!