The process of ageing has been on my mind a lot recently. It has been a huge life change for us, moving down to Cornwall, and I realise I’ve been really defensive when people say, ‘Oh, are you retiring?’ It’s a perfectly understandable question given that I am a ‘woman of a certain age.’ My response is almost always, ‘Well, my partner, Julie, retired a couple of years ago but I’m here to teach yoga.’ I often add that I’m going to teach yoga till I’m 100!
It’s then that I realise how much is in that defensive response. There’s the deepening realisation that I’m becoming invisible, especially when I’m stood at the bar (a post-lockdown novelty, I know)! There are the changes in the body and the acknowledgement that any illness or damage takes longer to recover from. There’s something in there about the seeming lack of purpose in a retired person. (We always ask someone new, ‘What do you do?’) (I could get stuck here in how much identity – not necessarily purpose – we derive from our job title, but that’s for another blog.) Julie said recently that she doesn’t want us to become that couple who spend each day pottering, going on trips out and having coffee and cake. But hang on a minute…how appealing is that?!!
It’s then that I realise what an enviable position we are in, privileged actually. We are both able-bodied, we choose to work now rather than have to, we have moved to a community where people support each other, and do you know what, if we want to potter, have a trip out, drink coffee and eat cake, we bloody well do, and we enjoy it!
So where does the yoga fit in, I hear you ask. Yoga is what reminds me that I am a BEING not a DOING. The difference is important and one that I speak about regularly in my classes. I don’t DO yoga and neither do my students. It is an hour or so to practice truly BEING in our own bodies and minds, singularly as we reflect on our current state of BEING, and collectively as we come together to BE in our different groups. It’s an opportunity in our busy weeks to give thanks to our own bodies, whatever our age or circumstance, for allowing us to exist as entities in this wonderful world, and to communicate with others. Yoga and our move to Cornwall are helping me come to terms with ageing in a different way; I have a deep desire to age well and to support others to do the same.
I’m off to blow up my paddle board now! And I might do that till I’m 100 too!
Do get in touch if you’d like to know more about the difference yoga can make to your life. Check out my website at http://www.cateharveyyoga.co.uk
Namaste x