A little over 6 years ago Victor and I decided that we would take private yoga lessons with Laura Mullin at the Clayton Yoga Shala which is located about a mile down the street from our home. At the time I was really feeling OLD. My two greatest concerns were my balance and my leg strength. When I walked I always had to hold onto Victor's arm or a shopping cart. If I were to sit down on the floor, I was unable to get up without help. I was in constant fear of falling. I had heard about the benefits of yoga for years, but the one time that I actually went to a large group class with my daughter-in-law, I injured my knee and it took months for it to heal. So, I had some hesitancy about taking yoga.
One morning in meditation, I told Victor that I had heard about this yoga instructor who offered private yoga lessons. He said he felt it would be really good both of us and that he would be willing to take them with me. So we made an appointment with Laura. I told her about my physical limitations and also about my concerns surrounding yoga. She listened and said she would start us slowly doing chair yoga at first. Victor and I both felt great after that first lesson so we signed up for weekly lessons. To say it has changed our lives would be an understatement!
I no longer have balance issues, can walk without hanging on to something and can easily get up from the floor without assistance. Various aches and pains have diminished. Victor and I both have more energy and mental alertness than we did 5 years ago. Just like the aging process, these changes, of course, didn't happen over-night. They came on gradually as we continued our yoga lessons.
This morning during our weekly yoga lesson, Laura mentioned that yoga enables you to "ease into aging." That inspired me to write a blog post with that title! Indeed, I truly feel that yoga has enabled us to reverse the aging process to some degree and I am in deep gratitude to have discovered it when we did.
Check out Clayton Yoga Shala class schedule here.