Yoga for all ages and levels of fitness! Is it possible? Yes, I think so. Yoga is one of the few froms of physical culture that make this claim. In todays circumstances we have millions of people all over the world practicing yoga and we all have our unique challenges, and we post and share our ideas on the internet. This has caused a huge evolution and change in postural practice of yoga as elements of all other forms of physical culture make their way into yoga techniques. Is it wrong or right? It just is! Whether it is dance, gymnastics, martial arts, acrobatics or any one of dozens of forms of bodywork, people use whatever they know when confronted with injuries of difficult areas of yoga practice- and then they tell everyone else about it. There are more people practicing yoga postures now than at any other time in history. When millions of people start doing a particular activity, it will create evolution regardless of anyones opinion.
Yoga means union and comes from the Sanskrit root yuge (to join) as many people already know. Is it really surprising that this ancient science has the power to synthesize all other forms of physical culture? The yoga we practice when we are 20 years old and ready to try anything is one kind of practice. The yoga we practice when we are in our 30s and have a couple of kids and are experiencing the rigors of raising a family is a different kind of yoga. And again in our 60s and 70s we have yet another set of possibilities. Is it not amazing that yoga can accommodate all these phases of life?
We have two camps in a way. There are the young athletic people doing sexy pop yoga and making it look beautiful and cool. And then we have the meditation and philosophy crowd which tends to be older and out of shape. The meditation people tend to think of asana practice as being for egotistical youngsters and the asana people tend to think of the meditation crowd as a bunch of boring old fuddyduds. This is too bad and I think yoga’s unique ability to unite can overcome this unfortunate situation. If we equate physical ability with success in yoga, we become shallow and vain and create a cult of youth and physical beauty. On the other hand if we poopoo yoga’s physical component, we lose a beautiful facet of our yoga community. In truth it was social media that turned the world onto yoga postures. Without the beautiful people posting their beautiful pictures much of the world wouldn’t even know about yoga. Asana is a fantastic gateway drug! It creates sincere interest in other, deeper stages of yoga. In my humble opinion what we need is yoga community. We need kind and knowledgeable teachers that can meet people wherever they are at and sincerely try to help. We need elders in our yoga community. Young people who can do beautiful postures do not always know about life. They are not necessarily wise at all! They can use guidance and friendship with people who have lived longer and know more. On the other hand older people can really use interaction with bright, hip, energetic young people. We all need each other. We need kindness and compassion. The whole world is lonely and trying to fit in and needs very much to connect with one another. Yoga has the ability to create community that can fulfill those needs.
In my own practice and teaching I see three distinct categories of practice evolving. First we have yoga therapy. Here we can use anything and everything we can find to create a balanced and pain free body. The global fusion of techniques is particularly useful here. I believe yoga can help anyone in almost any physical condition. Then there is Asana. Asana has structure and principles in my opinion. Not all asanas are safe and appropriate for all people. Because my background is Ashtanga Vinyasa, I really value rhythm, breath and bandhas and drishti. I see those fixed sequences as something like the scales a classically trained musician must learn in their training. They are necessary and should not be lost in endless modifications. Surya Namaskar is at the core of all Vinyasa style yoga practices, and it has clear and definite principles. Last but surely not least, we have concentration! This includes mudras, pranayama, and meditation and all the subtle internal layers of yoga practice that we move into as we go deeper. Asana cannot be done successfully by people who are injured and in pain. Asana can easily create injury and pain if it is approached carelessly. But to go deep into yoga we need the trance experience. This arises naturally in Asana. In fact all forms of exercise can lead into trance. All athletes have special moments in their chosen discipline. Yoga however gives the tools and technology to take those experiences much further. To practice asana and not explore the internal practices is a waste of time in my opinion. We miss the true beauty of yoga practice when we do this and confuse it with just another exercise craze.
I think yoga can be a friend for life. I feel that it can really create a beautiful communities around it. People of all ages and levels of physical ability can indeed participate in it. As time passes, and as teachers and communities evolve, I think this beautiful practice that has the power to touch the heart of humanity is here to stay!
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