When to Transition to a Gentler Practice, Part 2

by Nina

"At ninety-three, he could still perform difficult asanas--including variations on the headstand many younger "masters" could not. When he was ninety-five, however, he fell and broke his hip. Because of the reputation of Krishnamacharya, several leading surgeons offered to operate—but he would have none of it. Instead, he rigged up pulleys and ropes by his bed and began to experiment with new Yogic techniques for his own rehabilitation. Within two months he was able to walk, but the loss of full freedom of movement depressed him." —from Health, Healing and Beyond by T.K.V. Desikachar (about his father Krishnamacharya)

In Baxter’s post yesterday When to Transition to a Gentler Practice, he quoted a letter we received from a reader asking for advice about when to transition to a gentler asana practice. This is not the first time we’ve received such a question; in fact, this is probably the most frequent question we get here on Yoga for Healthy Aging. I suspect that most people with this question are hoping for some kind of formula from us, saying for example, if you can no longer do x, y, and z poses, it is time for your transition or most people should make the transition by age 65. But as I said to Baxter, I really feel that if you are asking the question, it’s not time yet. Because when the time comes, you will know it. Maybe you will be like Krishnamacharya, who had to change when he was 95. Or maybe you will need to transition much earlier, the way I did.

In my forties I had a rather strong, what I like to call “semi-fancy” asana practice. I took an advanced yoga class, did challenging poses like arm balances, full Lotus, advanced backbends, etc., practiced about two hours a day, and did long inversions almost every day (including a ten-minute headstand with variations and a ten minute Shoulderstand). I quite enjoyed the athleticism of my practice, and the feeling of strength and physical wellbeing it brought to me. By my fifties, however, I developed certain physical problems, probably brought on by menopause, which forced me to change my practice. Mild arthritis in my right hip meant that I could no longer do Lotus or even half Lotus and that I had to start using props in certain other poses. And two rounds of frozen shoulder (who knew you could get it more than once?) temporarily restricted my range of motion in my shoulder so that I was very limited in what I could do with my upper body, and after the frozen shoulders abated, I was never able to get my full range of motion back (though I’m still flexible in that area, compared to some).

I practiced asana throughout all these difficulties, adapting my practice as my restrictions increased and then decreased. While my shoulder was frozen, I couldn’t even do Downward-Facing Dog pose, much less Headstand, Handstand, or Upward Bow pose. So my practice was by nature very gentle. After I got better, I began to gradually ease my way back into the poses I couldn’t do with my temporary injury, and I’m still working on getting back to where I was (realizing, of course, that I may never get there).

Hidden Waterfall by Brad Gibson

When I was able to do Headstand again, I made a conscious decision not to do it as often or as long as I used to. I felt that it was a pose I enjoyed so much, I didn’t want to risk losing it again, and I knew that both Headstand and Shoulderstand would be pretty hard on my neck. So I decided to practice it only about twice a week and only for about 5 minutes each time, instead of the way I used to practice it. I had absolutely no scientific evidence that this was a good idea, and it was not suggested to me by any of my teachers, it was just a feeling I decided to follow. And it can’t hurt to be cautious, right? Removing the long inversions from my practice also made it shorter, so now my practice is more in the 1 1/2 hour range (and sometimes shorter, if I’m tired). As it happens, I never had to leave my regular (intermediate) yoga class. That’s partly because I know how to make modifications to my poses (or do alternatives) when there is something I can’t do. But it’s also because my teacher has been very supportive and understanding. (Once he said something about me—thank you, Donald—that I’ll never forget: “Nina never gives up!”)

The point is, my transition has been a very organic process, in which I’ve responded to signals from my body (some rather loud, others perhaps not) and made adaptations along the way. It hasn’t all been a one-way process, either. During times of difficulty, my practice was very gentle, and when I was more able, I returned to a stronger practice. And I also know, the transition process is not over yet. Who knows what the future holds. Will I be still be doing Headstand at 95 like Krishnamacharya? Or will I have to give it up much earlier?

Baxter, too, has gone through a similar process, with physical problems (including a touch of hip arthritis) prompting him to modify his practice. And that’s how I think it will turn out for most of you, dear readers. Perhaps you will have an injury or illness that forces you to change your practice, either temporarily or permanently. Or perhaps you will simply reach a point (who knows at what age?) when you can just no longer do the poses you used to be able to do or get through an entire class the way you used to, and you’ll know deep down inside that now is that time for a change. Like the future, this process is both inevitable and completely unpredictable. But it is your own body that will guide you through it.

When to Transition to a Gentler Yoga Practice

by Baxter

Meadow, Forest, Fog, Sky by Brad Gibson

The question of when to transition to a gentler way of practice is one of those million dollar questions, right? When (and how) should we start changing our yoga practice? In fact, we recently received this very question from a reader:

“Thank you for this wonderful blog. I am 60 years old and new to yoga. I come from 10 years of doing weight lifting. I also would like to know when to transition to a gentler way of practice? It seems that after a strenuous yoga class it takes a couple of days for my muscles to stop from being sore. But I don't want to lose my strength. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated!”

Yesterday’s post (see Range of Motion: Yoga's Got It Covered) is a timely one, as it speaks to the benefits of maintaining a certain amount of yoga asana practice over time to help maintain good range of motion at the joints so we can do things we want and need to do in life. But there is relatively little guidance from the various yoga schools that have made their way to the US or have actually evolved into new systems of practice in the US on how the intensity of a yoga practice should modify and change as students age.

However, as I mentioned previously, in the yoga tradition of Krishnamacharya, they teach that there are different stages of life, from student to householder to senior to hermit, more or less. At each stage of life there are different responsibilities and goals to address, and yoga practice would be modified at each stage to help accomplish those goals. Also, in that tradition, not only does the level of strenuous practice typically go from lots when you are a child, gradually diminishing as you age, but students often work with an individual teacher who can act as a more objective guide to assist them in figuring out just such questions that arise, especially as practitioners get into their 60s and 70s.

I am not aware of any other specific guidelines from other yoga traditions or styles that specifically address what our reader has noticed following a strenuous yoga asana class. I think it is reasonable to expect a bit of soreness the day after a class that is somewhat challenging to your body on both a strengthening and stretching level. But if your symptoms of soreness last more than 24 hours, I’d be looking for a class that is a bit less challenging and more tolerable for you body.

Not finding much in the yoga world about this, I came across this great website from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) that addresses western recommendations on both aerobic activity levels and muscle strengthening activities for older adults (see How much physical activity do older adults need?).

What you will smile at if you make it all the way down to the bottom of the page is that yoga is listed last as an acceptable strengthening activity. So how much yoga are they suggesting? Well, they recommend “muscle strengthening activities” at least twice a week that work all the major muscle groups of the body. However, they don’t state how long these sessions should be. A typical average yoga class in the gym or studio is 1 hour to 1.5 hours long. So you’d be meeting these criteria if you went to 2 classes a week. As an alternative, you could do a home practice two or more days a week for 20-30 minutes, and if you designed a sequence of poses that works all the major muscle groups of the body, which CDC defines as legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms, you might also meet their recommendations. I’d use the soreness levels as a way of deciding how strenuous your work should be, and I think it is a good idea, if you do get sore for 24 hours after you practice, to space your sessions out to at least every other day—just a common sense recommendation.

Having said all that, there is a more organic way in which many of us allow our practices to change and evolve over time that has been true for Nina and me, and Nina will share those ideas with you tomorrow. In the meantime, if any of our readers have come across other recommendations on this topic from their yoga traditions, please write to us and let us know what you have learned. We’ll pass it on the rest of our readers!