As we age, we generally have more body aches and pains. We injure ourselves more easily. Most of us accept this as the inevitable process of growing older. But what if we could continue to have ease and integrity in our movement and yoga practice as we age?
Also, with aging, many people find that their bodies can no longer do Yoga. But, you don’t have to give up your practice. Somatic Movement provides an excellent and achievable foundation for safety and benefit in your yoga practice
Somatic Movements Gives Aging Bodies a Better Way to Practice Yoga
You see, Somatic Movement is a way of helping your brain and body organize movement better. There is an art to this.
Organizing differently involves switching perspectives a bit. You see, your living body is something you experience from within. However, when we try to mimic a teacher or an instruction, we switch to trying to make something happen from an outside perspective.
Experiencing ourselves internally is different from viewing ourselves from the outside. Clearly, when we observe another person – a third-person view – we see a physical body, a shape, or a size. When we do this with our own selves and try to make the body do what we want we lose sensitivity to what the body needs to be safe.
When we experience from the inside, we feel, sense, and are aware of our inner body and how it feels. This is key to establishing a healthy relationship between your aging body and mind. It keeps us from pushing into the danger Zone. I will explain more of that later.
Practicing Yoga with Somatic Movement is Better for the Aging Body
In other words, when we try to conform to an outward picture or instruction, we rely on expert cuing and our own ability to move into, hold, and move out of that picture safely.
Think of it as the difference between starting your own car (with a key) and then starting a rental car. Your body needs a little time to catch on before you start the new car automatically. It requires thought. Technically, using the new key gives information to your motor cortex. With practice, you can turn that car on without thinking. The same thing with somatic movement. We replace limiting neurological movement habits with more efficient and pain-free patterns.
In Somatics Movement, we use pleasant and gentle movements grounded in evolution, developmental moments, reflexes, and your connective tissue matrix to circumvent old and painful habits. While calming and centering you, Somatics gives you a better way to practice yoga in your aging body.
How Does a Somatic Movement-Based Yoga Help Me Age Better?
We all get warning signs that something is not right when we push too hard trying to do an asana. When we are younger, we can override these aches, pains, and strains. We recover quickly from most injuries. This is not true as we get older. ignoring these signals will make them get louder and persistent. Then, we find ourselves in pain or no longer able to do what we once could. We move into the danger Zone.
If you engage yourself with movement that lends itself to curiosity, you become more attuned to your yellow warning signals and won’t have a “crash” in the red. This is true for Yoga practice. You can keep a lively and juicy practice if you learn how to “dance ” into the warning signs. Somatics can help. It offers a better way to practice yoga in an Aging body.
Using Somatic Movement for Aging
We’ve all seen older people who move slowly in a hunched-over posture. Trying to correct it with stretching becomes harder and harder. Often, stretching becomes a temporary band-aid. There is a restricted range of motion, and correcting it is a pleasant and deeply rewarding, joyful experience when you use gentle conscious embodied movement.
Check out this short video using somatics to relieve shoulder tension:
Similarly, balance becomes an issue as we age. This is often related to eyesight and how we balance and turn our heads in daily life. Sure, practicing still balance will help some. But freeing your head so it operates in conjunction with the rest of your body is key. Learn how your vision helps balance in walking.
I offer an ongoing class that gives you the tools you need to build a better way to practice yoga in your aging body. Please email me at the link and let me know you are interested. I will send you more details. Classes have a sliding scale. These classes meet over Zoom every Wednesday morning at 9:30 EST.
Somatics is really what we are meant to be doing as we age to stay pain and injury-free.
Don’t hesitate to reach out for a complimentary 15 minute call or sign up for a discovery session. Besides Yoga, I offer Somatic Movement classes, Walking Workshops and Pelvic Floor classes.
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How Stress Makes Pelvic Floor Problems Worse!Categories Blog, Embodiment, Pain Relief, Somatic Movement, Walking Course, Yoga and walking, Yoga Therapy
