YOU’RE NEVER TOO OLD
Ageing is something that many of us fear, but none of us can avoid. As you get older, you start getting rigid in the spine, which is our main column, our centre. If you don’d do anything about it, the spinal fluid doesn’t circulate and toxins get stuck there. From there it’s all downhill, because you’re not being rejuvenated, you’re not juicing up the spine so you can jump out of a chair instead of easing yourself up slowly. You can see how stiff people become. If you are flexible in the spine, you are flexible in the mind, you are open to new experiences. Increased circulation of the spinal fluid is linked to a good memory, something we lose as we get older.
Of course there’s wear and tear on our bodies with age, but we speed it up with our stress and nervousness, by forgetting to breathe properly and by being so stiff that there isn’t a good supply of blood and oxygen to the cells. A full hour of proper breath in a yoga session is better for you than anything you can imagine. It’s never too late to start. You’re never too stiff to do this. You may not get into the full positions – at least not straight away – but that’s not important. Start slowly. Listen to your body, be aware of how it feels. It’s when you’re not aware that you can get yourself too far into a position and end up in pain.
AGEING GRACEFULLY AND GRATEFULLY
Every time you think it’s too late to start something new, remind yourself that Pablo Picasso continued to make innovative art right up to his death at the age of ninety-one. Barbara Castle, the Labour minister who broke new ground for women in British politics, was still active in the House of Lords right up to her death in 2002, aged ninety-one. Popular music is full of icons now old enough to qualify for a free bus pass, from Tina turner to the Rolling Stones, while classical musicians and conductors seem to go on for ever. Make a promise to your body that you will take good care of it. Stay in shape, live a healthy lifestyle and don’t ever use lines like ‘I am too old for that.’ Instead, your mantra should be ‘I am wise, capable and I can do anything.’