Why My Yoga Training is Much More than Just Strength, Posture, and Balance

I’m pleased to share that I concluded my first level basic yoga teacher training (YA 200 level), early this past summer, and that I am studying and practicing for a much more demanding certification, the Iyengar Level 1 certification, which is a year-long course of study and practice culminating in a weekend of assessment by higher level Iyengar assessors. To answer your most-likely question – Was and is it hard? – yes, it was extremely challenging on many fronts, not just physical! But it is also incredibly worthwhile, rewarding, and confidence-boosting. I initially embarked on my yoga teacher training to experience firsthand how, and whether, Iyengar yoga could enhance my overall preventive health and longevity practice. I am happy to report that the training has had a profoundly positive effect on all aspects of my life. I was very encouraged to discover that my body, at age 76, still has the ability to learn, change, and incorporate all the many learnings related to strength, posture, balance, and more.

The very essence of yoga, and especially Iyengar yoga, is paying attention to our bodies. The poses (asanas) are all about noticing what is going on inside and adjusting and correcting your pose to create better posture as well as more space and energy in your body as well as your being.

In the past when people would ask me what the most important aspect of later-life health is, I would have mentioned the importance of movement and an exercise program or eating a nutritious diet with “real” food (as opposed to highly processed food) or some other aspect of preventive health. And while these aspects of preventive health are still important, my answer has changed. My yoga teacher training crystallized deeper thoughts about preventive health, particularly as it relates to later-life health. Now, my answer is simply: “Pay attention to your body.”

Yes, this means “take care of your body.” But mostly, it means noticing what is going on in your body as well as your mind. In my yoga work, I often found that my body has its own answers to many of my health problems. Our bodies are the miraculous wonders of existence. When we pay attention to our bodies and acknowledge what they give us (our very lives), we receive the greatest of blessings from them: their gifts of power, grace, wonder, and inspiration. All the other modalities of preventive health—movement, nutrition, mental health, and so forth—fit under this “pay attention to your body” umbrella.

My yoga teacher training has instilled the importance of three sub-topics under the umbrella, “pay attention to your body.” These topics are almost entirely missing from conventional discussions of preventive health and later-life health: posture, space, and the three related subjects of recovery, restoring, and healing. 

Posture

The very first time I did Tadasana (mountain pose) many years ago, I noticed how my posture affected my body, mind, and spirit. Creating a sense of space inside your entire body, head to toe, is vital for the correct functioning of all vital body parts, including the organs, joints, muscles, and brain. Poor posture constricts your joints, breath, and internal organs. Unfortunately, it is a marked characteristic of many older people. A perfect example of this constriction is someone I know in a gym in London. He is roughly my age, has big muscles, and is able to lift and press heavy weights. However, he is so hunched over that his upper back and shoulders are round, and he would be permanently looking at the floor if he didn’t force himself to raise his head, which he admits to giving him neck problems. I have tried to talk with him about the benefits of yoga, but he resists it, preferring the more “manly” practice of isometric weightlifting.

Thanks to my yoga training, the steady awareness of my posture has radically changed. No matter where I am or what I’m doing, I make adjustments based on what I’ve learned in the various asanas: shoulders back, elbows down, legs back, chest up. I sit differently, stand differently, walk differently. The exercises I do in the gym are now informed with correct posture. Plus, my driving posture is much more engaged, which makes me more alert and less likely to zone out during longer drives.

Space

Here is an important health concept you may never have considered: Correct posture increases the physical space within your body. The widening of the torso, chest, hips, and abdomen literally gives your organs room, with less constriction, so they can receive the circulatory benefits of increased blood flow. This is an important aspect for life in general and preventive health in particular. (The idea of creating space in your body is at the heart of Iyengar practice.)

According to the World Health Organization, the four prominent diseases of later life that cause most of the untimely deaths—cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes—are diseases of the organs, not the muscles. Yet most people focus on gym-based exercise for their health, not practices that benefit their organs. And other than Zone 2 cardio work, which benefits your heart and lungs, many gym-based practices cause more constriction and less space in the body.

The other aspect of space that I’ve learned in my practice is the space that comes in the non-physical form, or a metaphysical form—an openness and a greater ability to focus on the here-and-now. In the past, I was always multitasking, mixing future planning with present experience, along with a nonstop evaluation and self-judgment process in the background, judging what I was doing or saying or thinking. That rhythm has shifted more to focusing on the experience right in front of me with much less judgment, including interacting with others in a much more present way. I attribute this shift to the realm of space, both physical and metaphysical, which my yoga practice has fostered. Space also provides me more freedom to act truly spontaneously and not just habitually, to act from the deeper core of who I am. This is a truly more joyous way to live at this or any age.

Recovery, Restoring, and Healing

I wish there were better words to describe the magic that our bodies perform regarding the healing process we call recovery. Even the word restoring doesn’t capture the manifold miraculous healing that occurs. Every exercise enthusiast knows that recovery not only restores what was there before, in terms of fatigue and muscle damage, it increases the energy and physical capacity of the respective parts of the body. For example, cardio exercise increases the capacity and size of our lungs, heart, and circulatory system. Strength training increases the size and capacity of our muscles and bones. Meditation increases our focus, intellectual ability, and capacity for insights, deeper thoughts, and wisdom. Interestingly, yoga has a profound effect on all the systems of the body at once, from muscles to mind to joints to organs. And there is more.

 For me, the heart of my yoga experience was about liberating the abundant energy in my body and mind that were put there by the universe, by recognizing it and harmonizing with it. I believe the fundamental direction of this energy is healing. I use this word when talking about recovering from ill health, but primarily, I think of healing as the fundamental process that keeps us alive and healthy every minute of every day, as well as the ability to uncover aspects of our inner selves that need healing. The core of the restorative process, for me, is this harmony, a state of grace and oneness that comes with just being with my breath, either in pranayama (the practice of breath control) or meditation. The gifts of this deep dive into the heart of healing, for me, have been the inspiration and wonder that are increasingly guiding my life in these later years.

Final Thoughts About What I’ve Learned

When it comes to physical exercise, I still do a good deal of cardio exercise, mostly Zone 2 workouts and a once-a-week High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) session. And while I still do some weight training to address specific areas, most of the strength benefits I now get come from yoga! This is a healthier way to build strength because it addresses all the muscles, tendons, and joints in a whole-body approach that isometric gym work completely misses.

But yoga has now taken center stage in my life thanks to the many other benefits it has brought me, such as better digestion, a greater sense of calm, clearer focus, and more restful sleep. And here is a completely unexpected benefit: I now feel more connection to life itself. My in-depth yoga practice has given me a way to perceive my existence, my body, and the world around me that feels more complete. So, yes, my yoga teacher training was and is hard! But it is also transformational and transcendent. Committing to this rigorous yoga practice—and completing it—was and still is a challenging journey. But when it comes to later-life health practices, it’s the journey that I’m loving, not the destination.