‘Age is just a number’ - How Yoga Improved My Quality of Life at 68
On the ridge walking up to Caisteal Abhail on Arran June 2023
A new start after 60 is a weekly column found in the Guardian in which older people tell the story of how they’ve found a new meaning to life, taken on a major challenge or fulfilled a lifelong dream. I haven’t done anything as exciting as releasing an album, becoming a rock drummer, or travelling across Australia on a motorbike, but at the age of 68 I did take up a new lifestyle challenge: Yoga.
I have always enjoyed walking and spending time in the mountains, and on the day of the Queen’s funeral my husband and I went for a long walk in the Cambrian Mountains. On my return to the car, I was in a sorry state: exhausted, my hips were extremely painful, and I’d had to be careful with every footstep made on our way through felled forestry to avoid triggering sciatica. I was aware that walking was becoming increasingly painful, but if I was going to continue with simple walks on the canal towpath, let alone in the hills I needed to do something and fast.
Some years earlier, Imogen had designed a fitness programme which ensured I was fit for an Italian walking holiday. Knowing she was now a Yoga teacher, I approached her for help. Through 1:1 sessions and videos she devised a programme which increased my fitness, balance, strength, and flexibility and within a surprisingly short time I was no longer experiencing any hip pain. Her knowledge of anatomy and sports therapy ensured that I fully understood movements and positions, and why they are being undertaken and their benefits. I’ve appreciated the different variations of poses and use of props to make poses and flows achievable. This has also enabled me to follow her online videos and classes and videos taken by different teachers.
Imogen during a one-to-one Yoga class
Yoga is now an important part of my life and the one thing I’ve gained is confidence. There are of course days when I’m wobbling all over the place, I must miss a pose to catch my breath, or my movements aren’t particularly graceful, but it doesn’t bother me. I love the confidence that with time and practice, my body can now do things that it could not do 18 months ago, and that I’m ready to attend classes and booked onto a yoga retreat in June. Most importantly, I am more comfortable in my own body than I have been for decades. There’s also the additional confidence of knowing that if something does go wrong like a fall resulting in concussion or injuring my back, yoga has given my body the strength to recover quickly.
If you have the right attitude and you can find the right teacher like I did, Yoga can be right for you - and age is just a number.
