Practice Point #40 - Practice & Old Age

I received a question from Jaymoni in Malaysia. Their question is...

I am a senior citizen can I do asanas like backbend without hurting myself - I mean is to go deeper and deeper in asanas?

Good question.

I'm still quite young:)), so I do want to preface this advice with my lack of experience inhabiting an old body:)

But I am getting older every day and notice I don't bounce like I used to.

Yes, I believe we can still practice deep backbends, but we have to acknowledge that we won't bend like we did when we were 20 years old.

Backbends can be an excellent preventative for osteoporosis which comes with old age.

I would recommend working with support. You will be able to go deeper into the backbends if you have support.

With support, you will be able to hold the posture for longer and penetrate deeper.

Whatever you do, don't stop practicing:) Just find ways to modify and adjust your practice to match your aging body's limitations.

You can see many pictures of Guruji practicing backbends when he was older with the support of chairs, benches, stools etc.