A Yogic Perspective to Successful Aging

Falling in love with yourself is probably not the first thing that comes to mind when you think of aging. There is a whole negative narrative around aging directed at how we behave, how our mental capacities change and, especially for women, the narrative around how we look. None of these stereotypes take us down the path of self love. If history has shown us anything, it has shown us that making a blanket statement about a group of people is harmful. Not only to that group but to the greater interplay of society that loses the richness of a perspective we spend a lifetime developing.

In addition, many of the stereotypes around olders (I have adopted the term "olders" coined and defended by Ashton Applewhite, the author of the book "This Chair Rocks") simply aren't true and yet they are woven into our basic beliefs, for example "the senior moment". In the book "Breaking The Age Code" by Becca Levy, Phd, she enlightens us as to the origins of the phrase "a senior moment" and its lack of validity. Becca explains that "The reality is that memory lapses can occur at any age, and our brains form new connections in later life that can compensate for these occasional losses. In short, what causes certain forms of memory to decline isn't necessarily aging itself, but rather the way we approach and think about aging - the way culture tells us, and the way we tell ourselves, how to grow old."

What has gotten me fired up around this topic is realizing that I have bought into a lot of the stereotypes and was beginning to live them, until a friend introduced me to the word agism. As I started to learn more the enormity of this prejudice felt insurmountable. According to the W.H.O. ageism is the most widespread and socially accepted prejudice today, so much so that many of us don't realize we embody and project ageist views.

After wallowing in the magnitude of this "ism", I took a breath, stepped back, and put on my yoga cap. What I found can only be described as a new spark of joy. This change in perspective, known in the yoga sutras as "pratipakṣa-bhāvanam" has lit the way for a new way of thinking about the rest of my life.

We have the capacity to reject what has been placed on us and continue to discover the difference between that and what we intuitively know to be true. As we step into aging we can start to untangle the cultural narratives we've bought into and reclaim the power that comes from a lifetime of experience.

Those of us in the baby boom generation are a unique group of people.  We grew up during the sexual revolution, used a typewriter for our term papers and lived during a time when women weren’t allowed to open a credit card in their own name.  We are on the brink of reaping the benefits of a lifetime of work.  We are the carriers of wisdom and experience. The current societal narrative has turned its back on olders however, we are exactly what this world needs to heal. To do that, we need to turn inward and reclaim the power of aging in ourselves, creating a new narrative for the younger generations to stand on.

As we age, now is the time to fall in love. Who are you? What makes you tick? What brings you joy? How do you want to live the rest of your life? How can you keep your mind and body flexible and fit, so that you can reap the benefits of a lifetime of experience?

To find out more about the yogic perspective on aging check out my new series geared toward women's unique aging journey:

Aging Together: A Yogic Perspective To Successful Aging.

Aging Together Series