W
hen I began practicing yoga I was in my
twenties. I am now in my forties. It has been
intriguing to look back and observe how my
practice has changed. Those years of practice
have been a little like watching a child grow and
develop through various rites of passage.
But this past year, more than any other, there has been a notable
shift. I feel changes in my body internally and I see changes
externally. A gear has shifted into peri-menopause and I am
undoubtedly embarking on a new life chapter.
What on earth does this have to do with yoga? Well, apart from the
obvious – the call of my body for different things in my asana practice- it has helped me view this time with compassion towards myself
as I navigate an undeniable shedding and some significant changes.
A letting go. And gratitude that I get to be this age, for all that has
gone before, and all that may be yet to come. I am also reminded
of an interview I read with Judith Hanson Lasater where she talks
about yoga and ageing, describing how she went from adapting her
life to fit her practice in the early years, to over time finding that her
practice evolved to fit her life, and that on entering peri-menopause
How our yoga practice transitions and adapts with us as we age. By Paula Hines
it was as though a “natural” pratyahara was taking place. I deeply
relate to this.
I wrote in this column a number of years ago about the Yoga Sutras
being a bit like a multi-storey car park in the sense that each time this
text is revisited there tends to be a different level of understanding
and perspective, as though you start on the ground level and go up a
level each time, if you are fortunate.
That is a bit like how I feel now about my age and my practice
coming with me. The practice moves off the mat more and more.
Not in grand ways, but just in my day-to-day life. Each day is a
practice. Each day learning and feeling that I am moving forward
in life (sattva).
As certain things become less important, while other things
become more so, today I am grateful for the gift of getting older, and
grateful for the gift of yoga in my life.
I hope I am able to convey even a fraction of this in my
teaching.Paula Hines is a London-based yoga teacher and writer. Find details of
upcoming events at: ucanyoga.co.ukGetting older with yoga
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