There is something enlightening and liberating, as well as frightening, about turning 50. You may well be an empty nester for the first time and no longer have the 24/7 responsibility of parenting. You may be considering retirement or, conversely, going full-speed ahead in your chosen career, freed up to pursue your goals with a vengeance because you’re no longer dividing your time and energy between work and your children. But it’s also a time to take into serious consideration your health and how you’re going to maintain it. Practicing yoga, even if for the first time, is a very viable option for Baby Boomers. Granted, you’re probably not going to have the flexibility that a 20-year-old has but it doesn’t matter. If you are 50 years old, or older, and not as sprightly as you once were, you can still learn comfortably practice this ancient form of exercise by following the steps below and, as a result, see your flexibility return.
Instructions
1. Know as you go into your first yoga class that yoga is an equal opportunity exercise regimen. Anyone can practice it regardless of age, physical restrictions or infirmities (such as arthritis.) Yoga poses can be modified to suit your needs.
2. Realize that yoga does increase your flexibility and your strength and helps restore good circulation. Even better, yoga teaches its practitioners relax and, gradually, you’ll learn, perhaps even unconsciously, incorporate the relaxation tips into your daily life, which will help you become a calmer and more balanced person. A calm, balanced person is not a stressed out harridan. Ongoing stress is a killer and will do us in before our time if we don’t learn cope with it.
3. Be sure to notice your progression as you practice yoga. One week you might not be able to bend over and touch your toes yet a few weeks later you’ll notice that you’ve gained flexibility and are able to touch your toes with no problem. Yoga is never competitive but it is good to mark your progress.
4. Recognize right off the bat that pain is NOT a good indicator. If you feel pain, back off. It means you’re forcing your body to do something before it’s ready to do it.
5. Remember that the breathing aspect of yoga is not frou-frou. Most of us breathe shallowly on a regular basis. In yoga, you breathe deeply, through your nose, and coordinate your breaths with the execution of a posture. The breathing helps in the execution of a posture and is also beneficial because you’re giving your lungs a deep workout and you're learning slow down.
6. Use yoga props—a chair, folded towels, the wall, stretchable straps or anything that helps you facilitate the posture.
7. Talk to your yoga instructor and tell her about your physical limitations and restrictions and reveal any fears that you may have about practicing yoga. The teacher can guide you in the right direction.
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