yoga class
My wife gets this yoga magazine each month. The people pictured in it are not only bending in ways I never could and, this is the interesting part, they demonstrate great strength as well.

Recently, I have gotten back into doing my yoga routine. I learned  to do Bikram’s yoga style about 20 years ago and come back to doing it from time to time. As I approach 70 (next month), I find that not only am I less limber now, I have less core strength.

This need for core strength is something I did not pay attention to before. Bikram’s routine begins with five poses that require balance. Balance requires strength. I always worked at the balance poses as a matter of focusing and being mindful of balance and then my body followed along. It did that when my natural core strength was greater, but now I find I need to build up my strength in order to be able to balance.

So yoga 3 or 4 times a week now.

We have discussed exercise among the older population before. I refer you to two earlier columns:

Reference:

Choudhury, Bikram. Bikram’s Beginning Yoga Class. G. P. Putnam’s Sons, NY, 1978.

Photo Credit:  Still frame from the movie, Nudged. Actors pictured are, from left to right, Bill Bender, Dorothy Knight, Tiffany Patch and Jan Gauvain.

Join us for a real-time discussion about ideas raised by this essay on Friday from 12:00 p.m. to 12:45 p.m. See Discussion and SL tabs above for details. Link to the virtual meeting room: http://tinyurl.com/cjfx9ag.