Too Old for Yoga?

From our professional opinion: you are never too old or to “out of shape,” (in quotations, because everyone is a shape...who decides what shape we should be “in?”) to start yoga. Period.  Now that doesn’t mean that you should walk into an Advanced Level Power Vinyasa Flow as your first class… but that does mean that yoga is accessible to everyone of any age or shape. The key is to finding the right class and the right teacher for you.  It’s important to start with a beginners class, which we offer as our starter class at Grow Mobile Yoga. If it’s apparent that an intermediate or advanced level class is wanted/needed, we offer that too. The good (or maybe not so good depending on your outlook) thing is that even a beginner’s yoga class will have most people struggling in one way or another. Even someone who considers themselves very fit, or an athlete might find themselves struggling in a yoga class. That’s because yoga is a unique combination of different aspects combining movement, breathing, twisting, meditation, flexibility and balance. Thankfully, even though a class can be difficult, especially if you’re just starting out, the more you practice, the easier all these things become, even as you age.

Most people start to lose their ability to balance as they age, and often this can become dangerous, so starting at whatever age you are right now, you can begin to counteract that loss by beginning yoga today. In addition to our beginner’s classes and workshops, we offer a “Never Too Old Workshop,” and as we state in our description, “if you think you’re too old, this workshop is for you.” This class starts is mostly a floor based yoga class, sometimes incorporating chair yoga as well as the use of props, and using available walls for additional help. Our teachers move a bit slower here, allowing more time to get in and out of poses, and therefore letting the students check in with where they are with their bodies. This class is an awesome beginning to yoga, and after keeping a consistent practice, you may find yourself ready to move towards a more intermediate practice.

We believe the biggest barrier for some people that prevents them from starting yoga is the belief that it won’t work for them, or that they won’t be able to do it. They may have even read success stories about people starting yoga later in life but then tell themselves that they are different. We believe that the only difference between the success stories and other people is the ability to follow through. Why Grow Mobile works is that it’s not just a yoga program, it is implemented into your community, be it through your work or your school etc., so that roots you through the yoga practice but also roots you through your accountability to your peers that are doing it along with you. Self- motivation can be difficult so we aim to offer yoga to not just you, but your community in the hope that with the help of your peers, everyone will be more likely to continue on this path to well being.