ashtanga after 40

Claudia did a terrific post over on her blog on ashtanga for folks over 40 yesterday. As someone who will be turning 41 in a few weeks, I read with interest and my mind has been turning the topic over this morning— especially as I watch my nearly 8 year old daughter flip her body effortlessly into amazing asana. Yoga is different for an older body, there’s no way around it. I thought of commenting on Claudia’s blog, but it got too long, so I thought I’d post here. Thanks Claudia for a great post and a great blog!

I started Ashtanga at 38, after six years of pregnancy, babies, nursing and no exercise. I was stiff as a board, had zero backwards range of motion, could barely sit cross-legged on the floor and my back hurt all the time. But I remembered a time, an eon before, when I did a stint of Iyengar yoga in my twenties. What a difference twenty years makes! But in the comparison, I think the number one difference in yoga after 40 isn’t the lack of bendiness, although there is that (lord help me, there is that). In my opinion, the biggest difference between 20 and 40 is recovery time. It just takes longer to bounce back, either from an intense practice session, but also, and especially, from an injury.

I damaged my hamstring attachment (the classic yogi pain-in-the-butt injury) last year and I still feel it sometimes. I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m babying that right sit-bone for the rest of my life. Stupid! I was muscling my way into forward bends, forehead to the shins, just like I had in my twenties—bad lady! Ouch! Followed by endless recovery that never seems to be truly complete. I remember bouncing back from injuries like nothing in my twenties. Boing! Oh, how I miss that!

So the big take-away for me from that has been DON’T GET HURT. EVER. It’s Claudia’s #1: Go Slow. Go at 50% capacity. Actually move more slowly, too, no jerking, no sudden shifts. Ease into each posture and then ease back out again. If anything twings, even a little, back off, modify, do an easier version of the pose. Don’t ignore any ouch, no matter how small. And for goodness sake, NO HEROIC EFFORTS. In my twenties, blasting it out in an all-or-nothing practice was fun, like extreme sports, woo hoo! But no more. One blown knee, one hurt neck, and it has become apparent to me that I might lose the practice altogether. Plus, healing means scar tissue and scar tissue means permanent loss of flexibility and strength in that area. It takes for freaking ever, now, just to get back to something like normal, but after injury, normal isn’t the same normal as it was. After 40, I simply must be more careful with my body.

Which brings me to my second biggest post-40 difference: Diet matters more. One of the biggest things I’ve found that helps with recovery time, for me, is diet. High quality nutrition in easy to digest form (raw fruits and veggies) has made a huge difference in recovery, energy levels, and I don’t know what to call it—brightness during practice. There is also the fact that I could process a bunch of crazy food and substances a lot faster in my twenties and not be hit so hard, foods that leave me groggy, chubby, dull, and weak now. Really, practice the day after an all veggie day, or better yet, an all raw day VS. practice the day after an indulgence day is like black and white, it’s so clear, there is no question in my mind about this. Diet is a huge part in having the energy to practice, at any age, but I really believe it matters a heck of a lot more the older I get. Plus, practice while feeling dull and zombie-like is no fun, and the older I get, the longer the effects of bad food last.

A side effect of improving and veggifying my diet: dropping the extra pounds that seem to come with being over 40—which makes practice easier from a simple physics perspective. I have less to lift and I can twist deeper without those tummy rolls. Being tiny was easier in my 20s. I’m working against the hormonal tide now to stay small. Going all veggie has helped.

I asked David Williams, who is now in his sixties, what his current practice is and he said Primary, plus a daily swim in the Pacific ocean. David is, of course, one of the few people in the world who has done all six Ashtanga series, so I was curious when he had started cutting out the advanced asana. He said in his fifties. I’ve heard that number from a few sources, that you can add to your practice only up to a point, somewhere in your fifties, and then, inevitably, you’re going to start slowing down and doing less. So, maybe I’ve got another decade to add whatever asana might be added. If I was in my twenties, I’d have thirty more years, not just ten. That’s a huge difference in 20 and 40 right there. Sob! Good thing yoga isn’t really about the asana.

But here’s something that being over 40 gives me that I didn’t have in my twenties. Mental stamina. Dedication. Lack of flibbertygibbet flights of fancy flitting from this thing to that thing. Maybe it’s just sheer stubbornness. But I wanted to have a daily practice in my twenties and I just couldn’t get it together to do that. Whereas now I can. Maturity isn’t all about being stiff and grumpy. Kudos to the twenty-somethings who ARE able to do this practice every day! I couldn’t, when I was that young.