The Godfather and the Yogi
How I accidentally discovered the benefits of yoga
I have reluctantly cast off my fifties and slipped unwillingly into my sixties. I exercise regularly, do plenty of mountain biking and throw a few weights around but that does not make the humiliation anymore acceptable. The most positive thing I can say about the aging process is that it is better than the alternative.
Despite always maintaining a reasonable level of fitness there has always been one area where I didn’t really put in too much effort — stretching. To me, the pre-exercise stretch sessions always seemed a little unnecessary. Sure, some people needed to do them, but I was exempt from such humdrum activity. I was more of a skip forward to the real thing sort of a guy.
Stretching was like reading the instructions before assembling DIY furniture. You might end up with a few unidentified bits and bobs left over at the end, and one of the doors keeps falling off, but that’s all just part of the fun.
Recently, however, bending over had started to become a little more difficult. I could still touch my toes but it involved a two-day journey with an overnight stop somewhere around my knees. It is quite amazing how you learn to adapt to minor inconveniences like this. If I happened to drop a sock on the floor while dressing or…
