Introduction: Vanda Scaravelli, born in Florence, Italy, is an inspiration to anyone who wants to begin yoga at any age. She was in her 40s when she met B.K.S. Iyengar and hosted Krishnamurti’s lectures at her chalet in Switzerland. As she practiced with Iyengar, her health improved and she felt much better. Later, when she met T.K.V. Desikachar, she understood the importance of breathing. She then went on to create her own unique approach to yoga that draws from the belief that “if you are kind to your body, it will respond in an incredible way”. Her approach includes proper alignment of the spine, and uses the principles of gravity and breath to work with the body and mind to achieve wonderful results. Teachers all over the world carry on her work since her death in 1999 at the age of 91. Her book
Awakening the Spine (HarperSanFrancisco, 1995), is a must read for any yogi/yogini.
In the spirit of exploring starting yoga at any age, I asked Margi Miller, a sixty year old yoga enthusiast and realtor from Half Moon Bay, California, to share her story with us.
Leslie: Margi why don’t you tell us when you were first introduced to yoga?
Margi: I was first introduced about five years ago, right after I sold my house of 23 years and decided I needed to have some different physical movement. I went to a local yoga studio doing the beginning phase for about nine or ten months and really got hooked. After that, my teacher encouraged me to move to the next level, and when I did I found that too challenging and backed off. It was kind of scary for me so I went back to the beginning stage.
Leslie: What style of yoga did you start out with?
Margi: I was introduced to Ashtanga yoga which is definitely more physically challenging and I really, really enjoyed it. What I enjoyed about it initially was the physical ability to stretch and move my limbs. I had some back injuries and I noticed immediately that I was feeling better after yoga. Then two or three months after that it sort of took on a different light when I took a look at the breathing that goes into Ashtanga yoga. That opened me up even more and has continued to do so until this day, five years later.
Leslie: And do you still practice Ashtanga?
Margi: I do. I practice Ashtanga once or twice a week in class and often on my own in my own house. I’ll do those poses because they seem to be very linear in motion and while they are definitely physically challenging they seem to move in a way that creates some continuity for my body, because I am sixty and my body has changed a lot in six years.
Leslie: So where has yoga taken you?
Margi: For 2 to 2 ½ years I did strictly Ashtanga yoga and I moved to some of the meditation stuff too and up to the intermediate phase. In the second year, after moving ahead in it, I started getting injured. I would pull this muscle out or that muscle out and then I’d be out of yoga for a month or two. I found that frustrating. I realized I needed to take a look at my own body and how to integrate my own issues with the yoga practice of my choice, which has been Ashtanga. So I got involved in Pilates which is another form of movement that is challenging mostly in the alignment area, posture wise and also working more on your physical center which are the stomach muscles. Pilates strengthens your stomach muscles which becomes the core to doing everything else. So as I have evolved, I’ve incorporated both of those. I use the Pilates methods and teaching in my yoga class so that I don’t get as injured. Because injuries really took away from my yoga practice and pushed me away. I don’t want that to happen, because yoga is like one half of a circle for my physical growth and it is so meditative. Yoga has become more a form of mediation for me, where as Pilates has become more about strengthening. So yoga is flexibility, meditation, and smoothness. Pilates is definitely about strength training. And at sixty years old, I need that also for my bones and a lot of other stuff.
Leslie: Have you tried other styles of yoga?
Margi: Yes I have. Actually, starting with Ashtanga yoga was just the introduction to a whole yoga practice that includes Bikram and Hatha. Both of those I have tried and still do. I’m even moving into some more combination type yoga where you practice a little Hatha, restorative, and Bikram which is hot yoga. I found that as I continued to do Bikram that it was more of a risk to my body, because that heat does warm your body up and that means that you can stretch more, but in the course of doing that if you don’t know your own body you risk injuries. So my whole goal in yoga and Pilates is not to get injured, but to continue to stretch my spine and my body in ways that help make it easier for it to grow older and in the ways my body wants to!
Leslie: So if you met someone who had just turned 55 and they were talking about doing yoga what would you tell them?
Margi: I went in blind and now that I have learned so much, I would encourage someone to start with the softer forms of yoga, Hatha yoga for example. I think restorative yoga is a good introduction if you are overweight, or don’t have any background at all in moving muscles in any kind of physical training. Restorative would be a good way to start and then move into Hatha. I would probably suggest Ashtanga at the end because Ashtanga reminds me a little bit of war. It is very physically challenging and as you continue to evolve it becomes even more physically challenging. If your ligaments, muscles and tendons are not growing with those challenges, you risk injury. If I would have known then what I know now, I would have started with a softer form of yoga. I would have also interviewed teachers, or gone about trying different teachers instead of hooking into just one. Your body gets into a memory pattern then, when you go to do other yoga styles you can risk injuries, because it is used to doing the kind of yoga where it is the same every time . Ashtanga yoga is the same poses every time, but in Hatha or restorative, the poses and sequences vary a lot.
Leslie: Like a vinyasa flow class?
Margi: Yes, like a vinyasa flow class. Now Bikram is the same every time too. So those repetitive yoga styles are the ones that I would caution a new person starting out to be aware of. Not that they shouldn’t try it, but to be aware of taking it slowly and listening to themselves.
Leslie: There is a broader world of yoga than just a single series of poses.
Margi: Yes, that was what I was trying to say!
Leslie: What do you see in the future for you, do you want yoga to continue to be a part of your life?
Margi: Yes I have come to the conclusion that anything to do with body work needs all the pieces to be there and that yoga is becoming more spiritual to me than physical. The breathing, the meditation, and staying in the moment have all been huge for me. You can not be in the pose and doing really good yoga unless you are right there, very present and conscious. That is how you avoid injuries, and I am going to continue to do yoga once or twice a week. I will continue to do the Pilates for strength training my bones and a different kind of breathing, which is more percussive in nature versus the deeper slower breath of yoga. But I am really beginning to see that they are each one half of a circle and they complement each other. One or the other is not for everyone, it’s experimenting and trying different things to help you stay flexible as you age. You want to keep supple, moving quickly, and flexible as you go through the various transitions of the aging process, especially for women but men too. I will continue to do yoga. I think I will withdraw a little bit from Ashtanga, and move more into the integrative vinyasa flow types, which seem to be easier on my spirit and my body.
Leslie: Have you ever looked back and wished you had gotten introduced to yoga at a different time in your life?
Margi: Absolutely. In the 1970’s which is when I was in my thirties, aerobics and jazzercise, dancing, were the big things for women to stay fit. Running was becoming important. Yoga was never introduced to me, or I wasn’t paying attention. But if I would have started yoga when I was in my twenties or thirties, I think I would have avoided some of the injuries I have received. I think when you take a yoga practice, or any kind of body work, there is more to it than just the physical - it’s mental, it’s spiritual. Yoga is an ever constant reminder that you need to live in this moment and focus on what’s going on here and now to get complete and full enjoyment of life.
End of interview.
Our thanks to Margi for sharing her story with us!
Namaste, Leslie Ottavi
(reprint from 2004 interview)
Posts
