Yoga? - But I'm too old for that...

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This is precisely what Hans thought. Hans is 80 years old and age had brought about more than one physical restriction. By now, though, he enthusiastically visits a yoga class once a week and practices at home on an all but daily basis. He usually walks to the school, the short distance takes him almost half an hour. When you're older, things don't go that fast anymore, he says. But yoga makes him feel good, which is why he regularly joins the class every week. He feels the marked increase in his quality of life every day and is happy that there a some days when he hardly feels any pain at all. He would never have thought that he might feel that good again.

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Welcome! Join me for a yoga class …

For me, it is of great importance to choose exercises which can still be performed with ease also in old age since only what is fun will be practiced. For my participants, getting down on the floor would be troublesome and in certain cases even painful. I want my participants to feel as agile and lithe as possible instead of helplessly bumping on the floor. For this reason, I start my yoga class with everybody sitting on a chair. I have deliberately chosen a simple chair as a tool since it makes it easy for participants to practice at home as well. I regularly encourage my participants to do so because in order to promote the existing potential efficiently and to achieve a graspable mental or physical change, one thing is needed above all: regular practice!

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Starting position: standing mindfully

Now get up, turn the chair around and and stand behind it with your feet positioned directly next to the seat. Try to keep your feet as parallel as possible. If it is possible for you, the balls of your toes may touch but the heels stay about two fingers' breadth apart. (Image 2.0).

Movement 1: Reaching up

With your next inhalation, lift your arms laterally but in an arc-shape. Your palms are pointing upwards while your elbows have an inward and forward tendency. Use the whole range of motion that feels comfortable for you before lowering your arms again on exhalation. Repeat the same movement a couple of times in tune with your breathing rhythm. Feel how your breath deepens. Here, it is of secondary importance whether you're breathing through your nose or half-closed mouth (Image 2.1).

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12 01 YogaAktuell Cover

Yoga? - Dafür bin ich doch zu alt ...

Movements 2 and 3: Curling and straightening

On your next exhalation, bow down and grip the sides of the seat. Erect your back again on your next inhalation. Always keep a firm grip on the sides of your chair (Images 2.2 and 2.3)

Movements 4 and 5: Angry and happy cat

With your next exhalation, step one small step back. Again, your feet should be in a parallel, symmetric position and be approximately under your hip. Keep exhaling and round your back as much as possible. With the next inhalation, arch your spine. Repeat the angry cat - happy cat movement a couple of times. Try to make sure that arching and curling covers the entire spine and brings it into an even, dynamic movement (Images 2.4 and 2.5).