It does not matter how many candles are on your birthday cake when you start yoga.
“My God Alice, you should have seen what this young thing was doing in that YouTube video!” Elizabeth said as they were walking down the street towards the yoga studio.
Elizabeth watched some yoga YouTube videos the previous night. Now she is convinced more than ever that she is too old and that she will never be able to do yoga in her lifetime.
Elizabeth is suffering from the “Candle Effect”. She is concerned to start yoga because she has too many candles on her birthday cake.
“She was so flexible.” continued Elizabeth “She could cross her ankles behind her head and lift up off of the floor. I can’t even get near to touching my toes. I will never be able to do yoga like that.”
“She was moving rapidly and effortlessly from one yoga pose to the next. I was out of breath just watching her! If the yoga class we are going to is like that I will never be able to keep up.”
“I am a lot older than that young thing in the video. I will be so embarrassed. All the those young people in class looking at my stiff old body. I feel like I am too old to start yoga now. If I had started years or even decades ago, I might have a chance to look like that young lady in the video.”
Elizabeth mentioned several reasons that a lot of people do not start yoga. These reasons are all part of the Candle Effect.
I am too old and because I am old:
- my body is too stiff
- I will never be able to keep up
- I will be embarrassed
Luckily, Alice still has a few minutes before they reach the yoga studio to reassure Elizabeth about her concerns with starting a yoga class.
Alice decided to tackle Elizabeth’s concern about flexibility first.
My body is too stiff
When Elizabeth watched that video on YouTube she saw a very flexible young woman showing how to do very challenging poses.
Seeing these super flexible people showing off discourages you from even trying yoga and to top it off most of the people demonstrating these yoga poses are a lot younger than you are as well.
“What you will discover when you go to a regular yoga class at the yoga studio” says Alice “is that it does not resemble that YouTube video at all. There are people there that are very stiff and there are people there that are quite flexible. Some people are doing the yoga pose quite well while others are unable to get very far into the pose.”
Alice went on to tell Elizabeth that she will see that the yoga teacher is providing modifications to the poses. They have modifications that will accommodate your current level of flexibility. In some cases they will even provide an alternate pose for you to do. There is no pressure to have the perfect pose.
Next Alice addressed the next Candle Effect, Elizabeth’s fear about the speed of the class.
I will never be able to keep up
“I am so slow, I will never be able to keep up with the rest of the class” said Elizabeth “I don’t know how to get my body into the shape that that young lady on the video did and then she moved on so quickly to the next pose.”
Alice tells Elizabeth that a lot of yoga studios provide a variety of classes with varying levels of challenge. You will be able to find very vigorous and challenging yoga classes much like in that YouTube video but you can also find a variety of other classes as well.
You will also be able to find yoga classes that are at a much slower pace. The poses are held for a much longer time and the teacher takes time to introduce the pose. They demonstrate the pose, then they show you how to get into the pose and finally they show you some modifications that will work with your current level of flexibility and ability. The teacher also encourages you to take a break if you need one. There is no pressure to go further than you are able to.
You will be able to find a yoga class that will be the right pace for you.
Finally Alice talked to Elizabeth about the last Candle Effect, her fear of being embarrassed.
I will be embarrassed
“Finding the right yoga class will help you to feel less embarrassed” said Alice. “In a normal yoga class unlike that YouTube video that you watched you have a wide variety of people. Sure there will be a few very flexible people there that can do some amazing things with their body.”
You will also discover a lot of regular people there as well. They will have challenges with the poses just like you. They will be struggling with the pose.
Some of these people will be older than you and some of them will be younger than you. You will discover some of the really flexible people are older than you and some of the stiff and inflexible people will be younger than you. Age does not make any difference.
One of the surprising things about a yoga class is that everyone is more concerned with their own yoga practice and how well they are doing today compared to last time that they do not care how you are doing in a particular pose. They realized after taking yoga for a while that they are working to improve their own body and it makes no sense to compare yourself to someone else.
As Alice was talking to Elizabeth Mary passed them on the way to the studio. “If you think that you are too old at 40 to start yoga let me tell you about my friend Mary. She started yoga when she was 82!”
Mary starts Yoga after her 80th birthday
Mary had an advantage over Elizabeth, she never watched any of those YouTube videos. Mary had a desire to improve her body’s flexibility and health and her daughter convinced her to try a yoga class with her.
Several years ago when Mary was in her early 80s she came to her first yoga class with her daughter. Mary had serious doubts about yoga. Her breathing was laboured most of the time, she could not lift her arms up over her head and her arthritis was hurting her all of the time.
Her daughter insisted that yoga would help her and that she did not need to be flexible to start yoga. Mary reluctantly agreed to give yoga a try just to get some peace from her daughter’s nagging.
They went to a Gentle Yoga class and the teacher was providing modifications and alternative poses that accommodated everyones abilities and needs. The pace of the class was just right for Mary. She was able to keep up without getting out of breath.
Mary liked the yoga class so much that she started coming 3 times a week. After about six months she was much more flexible and the problems with her shoulders have cleared up.
Mary is convinced that you are never too old to start yoga and it will make a difference for you if you stick with it.
Summary
Alice was able to help Elizabeth to overcome the Candle Effect and get over her concerns about being too old.
Elizabeth sticks with Alice and goes to her first yoga class. She is both relieved and excited now. Elizabeth feels really comfortable in class. Alice was right the yoga classes at the studio are nothing like that YouTube video.
Elizabeth did not feel out of place. The class was not filled with 20 somethings, in fact there was a lot of people there that were about her own age.
Next Step
If you have a friend like Elizabeth that could benefit from yoga but they are suffering from the Candle Effect, tell them about what a real yoga class is like and how Mary got started when she was over 80.
