Participants in the Age-defying Athletes Project (ADAP) decided to play sports in later life for a variety of reasons: friendship, fun, fitness, fresh air, mental health…
And while some may have considered “stress management” as another sport driver, Ingrid is the first to explicitly cite that motivation. She took up yoga because she was “looking for an all around fitness activity and stress management activity…”
Mind and body make sense because, according to Wikipedia, yoga is “a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated in ancient India..” originated perhaps 3000+ years ago.
Growing up, Ingrid participated in plenty of traditional sports: basketball, track, distance running. From about age 13 through high school, she played soccer.
“I continued running through my 30s,” she recalls. What’s more, Ingrid ran two marathons, but then “Transferred to walking … After my first child, running was not as enjoyable.”
She has always been athletic, and, in fact, has had a successful career in corporate health promotion.
Whole body workout
But despite this comprehensive sporting background, Ingrid notes that yoga is “The first activity in my life that’s been whole body.”
She decided to try it about five years ago, and attended sessions on and off awhile.
“I had a couple of friends already practicing,” she says.
But the difficulty with starting was “being comfortable with the unknown and not knowing.”
Ingrid likens yoga to “… learning a foreign language. Each instructor is different and brings different things to class. I never learn less. Whole new world I didn’t know anything about. Huge growth for me.”
Two years ago, Ingrid claims, she became “addicted”.
Why?
“It’s really been a fantastic way of centering mind and managing stress. Definitely see things not as amplified plus or minus.”
Ichigo ichie
There is a Japanese concept, ichigo ichie, which maintains that every moment is unique. Each moment offers the opportunity to become something new and different.
That’s part of the appeal for Ingrid, who describes yoga as “bliss”.
“Every day,” she avers, “you go on your mat and become a different person with each practice. Take who you are and do best you can. “
Of course, as anyone who’s ever attempted a pigeon pose or shoulder stand recognizes, yoga offers plenty on the physical as well as mental side.
“I get a good workout, sweat, balance, strength,” this 59-year-old explains. “Practice getting up off the floor. Hoping balance and flex and core strength maintained.”
She has “Enjoyed challenge of new parts of yoga – strength balance moves like planks, handstands.”
When she began, Ingrid sought out beginner classes. Most yoga is classed by flow, heat, breathing, she says. Today, “Vinyasa yoga is constant flow and that’s what I do.”
Ingrid attended a number of classes in instructor-based practices. “Most yoga offerings,” she notes, “have ‘101’ to more advanced.
She solos at home on occasion. Breathing is what she mostly practices outside of class. “When I am waiting in line, stretch or twist part of warm up or cool down.”
Even though yoga is an individual type of activity, Ingrid has been surprised by “Sense of community. You do your own class on the mat, but lot of camaraderie before, during after. Typically 12-15 in class.”
Ingrid still works full-time, so carving out an interlude in her day can be challenging. Her goal is to “Go to at least 10-12 classes a month. Frequency goal. Feel if I don’t continue to improve [I will] shy from next challenge.”
Competition is all around us – even in this ancient meditative practice! When discussing her frequency goals, she notes that “I’ve been going [to class] daily this week because the studio posted ‘30 days in three months’ for a raffle ticket. Want to make this goal – need eight more days. That’s the goal.”
Sometimes, Ingrid admits, she becomes frustrated about her own ability to do something new. But, like other Age-defying Athletes, she keeps moving forward.
Obviously with great effect because she’s on her third Manduka mat!
WIIFY?
Who couldn’t use a little stress management these days?
Yoga aims to restore mind and body, but any sport has the potential to contribute in those ways.
For example, another Age-defying Athlete, Nate, 73, declares that the prime benefit of playing tennis is that it both calms his mind and keeps it sharp.
The game provides “…mental relaxation. Mentally very relaxing to keep score. I don’t care who wins or loses (much!) but the process of keeping score helps me focus on the game. That’s why I like competitive sports.”
Another cognitive angle is that “As I play better, I have more fun. Then strategy enters the game. The mental part is where I can pick up on weaknesses in my opponents, and then exploit those weaknesses.”
His goal is to become more consistent so he can enjoy more of this psychic benefit.
Scoring, strategy…every sport can keep the mind agile and the body robust. The important thing is just to try one (or several).
With apologies to Jim McKay, there is no thrill of victory, no agony of defeat.
Instead, there’s the opportunity to immerse yourself in yoga, tennis, swimming, bicycling, or any of dozens of other athletic pursuits. Immersion will free your mind of whatever stress you brought to the table.