Yoga can be many things, and seen in different ways; yet for many of us, especially those of us who are aware that we are getting older – and to be honest once we get to 40-plus that can apply to most of us, and then when past the 50 or 60 point, maintenance and being able to carry on is a priority.

And yoga does offer this to us all, it helps keep us going.

One of the people I teach, in her 70s, told me that at another yoga class the teacher kept on talking about improving her practice when all she wants is to be able to keep going.

Of course, I am aware that improvement is helpful, and worth pursuing in many cases, but as my student pointed out, it was too much focus on improvement not enough on keeping going.

It is a subtle balance, but I do think where applicable, the focus on regular practice and this idea of keeping going is important. We want to keep and maintain what we are able to do as we grow older.

Years ago, I liked to use the analogy of an old car, maintained and used with care and attention, the car kept going. Our body and mind are very similar, look after them and use them regularly.

The famous yoga teacher from India, BKS Iyengar, who passed away in 2014 at the age of 95 kept his practise going into his early 90s. He adapted his practice, and his practice transformed, perhaps less physical but more mature; he refused to stop, instead kept going.  

He is quoted as saying this about his own ageing:

“After a certain age, to practise asana and pranayama is going to be very hard. I am doing it because of this reason only. The body ages. It descends towards deterioration. The rate of catabolism increases more than anabolism. The bones become brittle. The blood vessels get hardened. All these are known facts. I do not want to fall prey to these. If I surrender to the will of the body, then I am no more a yogic practitioner. When I practise, I watch how to stop this deteriorating process. That is the will over matter.”

If this sounds blunt and hardcore in terms of practice, bear in mind Iyengar was forthright with his views, and we do not all have to be Iyengar, but we can do our own best to keep going in our own way.

I believe we need to keep going, to maintain a sense of determination not to give up and listen to our inner voice of doubt and resignation. We can also be gentler with ourselves at the same time as pushing ourselves forward.

At the heart of this approach are the principles of sthira and sukha, which Iyengar also says are important: sthira being steadiness and sukha a sense of ease or being comfortable (not to be confused with not applying effort). These two qualities ask us to apply ourselves in the yoga postures with these two principles working; in other words, listen to our body and mind, and do enough but avoid over doing it.

Iyengar explicitly disagreed with the idea that older people should hide behind old age or abandon asana and pranayama for meditation alone out of fear. He continued practicing for hours daily well into his nineties. And here again, I do not expect most people to practice as much as Iyengar did, but some practice regularly is important, a short daily practice of perhaps 15 minutes or half an hour can make the difference we seek.

After all many of us do still feel young at heart and just become more aware as the years roll by that the body might not feel so young, but why stop, as we can adapt and change how we live without abandoning what is important to us – our health.