The other night as I was switching TV channels, I came across Peggy Cappy's PBS program Yoga for Arthritis. I didn't know that arthritis afflicts 37 million Americans, causing them much pain and immobility. Peggy Cappy teaches yoga classes to "seniors" and young individuals who have found that yoga can help get them off meds for pain and enjoy their lives much more.
The program featured interviews with Cappy's class participants, many of whom were in their upper 70s and 80s. One woman said that she had been practicing yoga for YEARS and attributed her well-being to her yoga practice. She loved gardening and doing other physical activities which she could handle without any pain. Not typical, she noted for someone in her age group.
Although that woman had been practicing yoga for years, Peggy stated that anyone who began yoga, even late in life, would start seeing dramatic shifts in their flexibility and energy. It doesn't matter! Not surprising, Peggy Cappy teaches a gentle form of yoga that is feasible for all her class participants to do. She is not leading a pack of hot yoga or power yoga participants. Nevertheless, the program testified to the power of gentle yoga for greatly improving the quality of life for people advanced in years.
Yes, the show was like singing to the choir for me. But, it further reinforced how important it is for me to maintain a yoga practice the rest of my life. What about you?
Yours for flexibility and mobility throughout life,
Laura Venecia Rodriguez
Awaken the Wisdom Within Communications, LLC
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