After years of pumping weights and pounding the treadmill in the gym, Jennifer Boksa decided it was time for a change of pace. So she signed up for a yoga class in January and since then has been regularly practicing her asanas and pranayamas – yogic poses and breathing techniques.
“I was starting to get injuries from my gym workouts,” says Ms. Boksa, a 40-year-old resident of Georgetown, northwest of Toronto. “Yoga feels like something I can sustain as I get older.”
Once viewed largely by North Americans as a New Age fad, yoga is now part of the fitness mainstream in Canada, with classes offered in hundreds of gyms and boutique yoga studios throughout the country. This ancient practice – believed to have originated more than 5,000 years ago in South Asia – is based on three main components: exercises that put pressure on the body’s glandular systems, breathing control techniques, and meditation to quiet the mind.
Combined, these three components add up to a practice that gradually increases the body’s efficiency and improves overall physical and emotional health – all without the pain typically associated with gym workouts.
“Yoga gets you out of this competitive mode of thinking that you have to beat your body into shape,” says Heather Morton, owner-instructor at the Yoga Way in Toronto. “Unlike going to gym, which is like a chore for most people, yoga is something that you want to do, something you look forward to doing for yourself.”
A survey last November by Leger Marketing found nine per cent of Canadians – or more than three million – practise yoga weekly.
Angela Alchesi, a yoga instructor at the Yoga Sanctuary in Toronto, says people often equate yoga with pretzel poses and other seemingly impossible body contortions. As a result, some think yoga is only for the young and elastic.
“You’re never too old to do yoga,” says Ms. Alchesi, who teaches a “senior’s yoga” class where the youngest student is 55, and the oldest is 85. “In fact, as you get older and your body is no longer able to take those punishing workouts, you’ll find yoga to be the perfect practice.”
Patrick Winogrond, a teacher at Salt Spring Centre for Yoga in British Columbia points to a number of classes he teaches “where I don’t think there’s anybody without grey hair in the group.”
Whether you’re 16 or 65, you can do yoga, says Mr. Winogrond, who teaches Ashtsanga, an advanced and more challenging form of yoga.
But while yoga is suitable for older youth and adults of all ages – the American Yoga Association [www.americanyogaassociation.org] doesn’t recommend yoga for children – those who are less limber and physically fit should take precautions to avoid getting hurt, according to the experts.
Maureen Vohora, co-owner of iGita Hot Yoga Club, Spa and Boutique in Oakville, just west of Toronto, says it’s a good idea to start in a beginners’ class, which are less demanding physically and focus more on learning basic yoga poses.
If a studio doesn’t offer a beginners’ class, Ms. Vohora suggests letting the instructor know you’re new to yoga and discussing your physical limitations. This way, the instructor is likely to suggest ways to modify poses to make them easier and safer for newbies.
“Be sure to disclose all health problems,” says Ms. Vohora. “If you were in a car accident five years and had a neck injury, or you have ongoing back pain, you need to tell the teacher.”
Ms. Alchesi at the Yoga Sanctuary suggests using props such as wooden blocks, cushions or straps, which can all help those with limited flexibility execute poses without straining themselves too much.
“And perhaps the most important thing to remember is that, at any time, you can just sit out a particularly challenging movement or pose and just go into [a resting pose],” she adds.
