The path to longevity is obvious

This week two of my regular students turned 80. I don’t know why this hit me hard, but it did. We sang the special “yoga chant,” (aka the Happy Birthday song), and I teared up.

G.K. has been taking my offerings (and that of many other yoga teachers) for 10 years. After his wife passed, yoga, the gym and church have been his daily activities.

G.B. has been taking my yoga class exclusively for 15 years. She followed me from studio to studio. She is incredible – water and snow skiing, hiking, running marathons, gardening and more – and swears that her once a week stretchy yoga class has kept her going.

She jokes that when she started yoga, we were both young. She’s right.

I am often asked what are the best practices to retain vitality, health and wellness. In the case of each of these individuals, there is truly only one answer: Consistency.

Neither has ever missed more than a few weeks of practice. Vacations, illness, injury, family needs – whatever– they always come back to their mat.

I have advocated for gentle movement for decades. While yoga also provides community and a path toward inner peace, the poses are a major stepping stone to vitality. In recent years, I have added a dose of Pilates-based exercises and mobility. This work keeps us strong and gives our joints a wider range of motion.

I wouldn’t say that my classes are easy, or even gentle to be honest. We move slowly but effectively. I believe that strength-based practice is the way to greater health, and that over-stretching is a ticket to the orthopedist’s office.

There has been one huge surprise, however. I never sincerely considered how important it was to have good company along the way. Yes, I know that to be true, in a textbook understanding. But it never truly entered my bones in the manner that these two individuals reminded me that we are better together.

I am at an age where one starts to wonder how much longer I might teach. I always said that when my offerings no longer resonate with students, I’ll hang up my mat and go home. But this week reinforced that I’ll be here as long as I’m wanted, to eighty and beyond.

Michelle Marchildon is the Yogi Muse. She is an award-winning writer based in Denver, Colorado, where she teaches yoga and mobility to anyone who wants to stay active for as long as possible.