I wrote the following story for the Charlotte Observer and The News & Observer in Raleigh; it appeared in both papers June 28, 2011. It reruns here, with links.
Yoga helps Darlene Jonas cope with Parkinson’s disease, enables scientist Lynn Conley to sit at his desk for long stretches, lets Bill Glasheen keep playing golf and has helped Nancy Wren cope with the death of her husband. Robin Kneeburg credits yoga with saving her life.
“There is a style of yoga that will meet any physical needs you have. It doesn’t matter what age you are; It takes you where you are, and improves you from there.”
That’s not according to the Yoga Chamber of Commerce. That’s according to 61-year-old Nancy Wren of Matthews, who first relied on yoga to help her through pregnancy — and labor — in the 1970s, and more recently used it to cope with the physical demands and stress of helping her ill husband, and then to help her through the grieving process when he died. Wren is something of a poster child for the several-thousand-year-old practice of yoga, which the Mayo Clinic defines as “an alternative medicine practice [that] brings together physical and mental disciplines to achieve peacefulness of body and mind, helping you relax and manage stress and anxiety.”
Charlie Spencer Lackey was facing stomach surgery last fall that she was hoping to avoid. She suffers from gastroesophageal reflux disease, more commonly referred to as GERD; her doctor mentioned one option that could preempt surgery: start exercising, lose some weight. Eager as she was to avoid the surgery, another malady made exercise a challenge.
The following story, which I wrote, first appeared in The News & Observer on Sept. 14 (a similar version ran the same date in the Charlotte Observer). It appears here with links.
It’s hard to imagine a better yoga studio: as the hourlong class goes on, the temperature drops, the light dims and the obligatory relaxation music is as soothing as an eventide symphony on the front porch. And when teacher Claudia Conty gently instructs the class to “make sure you are rooted to the Earth,” that’s not faux teak laminate you’re digging your heels into.
Wednesday morning, I did a one hour workout with a group of women, most of whom were in their 80s. Wednesday evening, I did a half-marathon training run with a group mostly in their 20s. Despite being at opposite ends of the demographic scale, the similarities between the two groups were more striking than the differences.