Implausibly limber

Grandmothers, pensioners, matriarchs... these senior citizen ace the asanas proving there really is no age limit for yoga:

by Husna Inayathullah

John O’Donohue in his ‘Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom’ told the world ‘You are as young as you feel!’ But creaking bones, weighty thoughts and an internal system gone haywire, often lead to the elders believing their shelf life is over and they are as ‘old or older than they feel’. So, if one was to ask the average 65-year- old grandmother whether she’d like to try out some yoga asanas, the answer would no doubt be an incredulous “What!” But ask the elderly students of Upashantha Hettiarachchi, and you’d be knocked out of kilter at their response.

Yoga is a system of exercises for mental and physical health. An ancient Hindu philosophy, it teaches a person to experience inner peace by controlling the body and mind. The basic premise in yoga is union - union of the various aspects of existence like body, breath and mind. In fact the word yoga comes from a Sanskrit root ‘Yuj’, which means ‘to unite’.

Balance and flexibility

Still, it’s not easy to ‘unite’ the thought of asanas (postures) with the aged... That is until you come across Hettiarachchi’s amazing students, sprightly and limber, artfully moving their body in a manner that screams strength and balance and flexibility and yes, even youthfulness.

Hettiarachchi’s open air class in Kiribathgoda is unique, in that all the students are elderly women – grandmothers, pensioners, matriarchs, senior citizen... in fact not spring chickens.

Hettiarachchi, who is chief instructor at his yoga Physical Training Institute, has been conducting yoga classed for the past 27 years. Calling yoga the ancient mental and physical healing art practised by sages, he say there is no age limit for trainings and proves it by the classes he conducts for elders at the Kiribathgoda Siyambalape jogging park.

It was his interest in sports since childhood that is made him start a training institute, but it was his interest in yoga and the belief that there is no age limit to staying limber and yoga is for all ages, that sees him conduct special classes for elderly women.

Most of his elderly students had been suffering from various health issues including arthritis and diabetes, courtesy their lifestyles, before they came to him. However, in three months, he had them doing difficult postures and happily talking about body weight and their healthy body.

Hettiarachchi, who began practising yoga at the age of 16, under Master Nihal Karunarathne and began coaching in 1986, believe elders should be physically fit. His aim is to create a physically fit generation. “Everyone wants to have a beautiful and healthy body and most of the young ladies try to enhance their beauty by applying artificial cosmetics available in the market,” he says, pointing out that practising yoga helps one to be healthy and beautiful.

“Yoga is a physical exercise that should be practiced as an art of meditation. Yoga poses, and breathing techniques help to improve blood circulation. Pathma Asana, Halasana, Makulu, Deva, Garunda, Mathsya, Sinha are some of the yoga poses that help maintain a healthy body,” he says, explaining that traditionally, yoga is a method to join the individual self with the Divine, Universal Spirit, or Cosmic Consciousness. “Physical and mental exercises are designed to help achieve this goal,” he adds.

Hettiarachchi elaborates that on the physical level, yoga postures or asanas are designed to tone, strengthen and align the body. “These postures are performed to make the spine supple and healthy and to promote blood flow to all the organs, glands, and tissues, keeping all the bodily systems healthy,” he says, adding that on the mental level, yoga uses breathing techniques (pranayama) and meditation (dyana) to calm and discipline the mind. Yoga, he stress is a way of living with health and peace of mind.

Hema

Hema Senadeera aged 69 from Delogoda, Mahawatte, who has undergone training, says she met Hettiarachchi on a Poya day at the Delgoda Kalyanapradeepa Piriven Viharaya. “Upashantha told my friends and myself to attend his yoga classes, conducted one afternoon a week for two hours. I have been attending his classes for about one and half years,” she says. Before she joined the yoga classes, she admits she was fat and could not move or walk properly, as she suffering from pains in her arms and legs. She had also had a big stomach and had felt uncomfortable most of the time.

Hema says she feels much better now and that she has lost considerable amount weight. She admits to feeling content and confident when walking and doing work around the house. She says she is now cured of her arthritis and has even managed to get rid of the cholesterol problem she was plagued with.

Soma

Soma, a 78 years old yoga practitioner says she got to know about the yoga classes while she was attending a meditation class at Delgoda Kalyanapradeepa Piriven Viharaya. “I go for yoga classes every Saturday from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Every morning, for 20 minutes I practice the lessons we were taught in the class. I do meditation as well,” she says, adding proudly that she can now cross legged in one position for a long time.

She says the yoga classes had re-energised her and that she has become more active. “I can do things fast, e specially during bodi poojas,” she says, adding that youngsters should also give yoga a try.