balance

My young self could do backbends, and yes, walkovers, splits, could comfortably sit in lotus position (without knowing what it was), and as a party piece, could walk across the room on my knees whilst in said lotus position (I’m talking very young here….!!).

Yeah, no, can’t do any of that now.

I’ve been practising yoga formally, on and off, for about thirty years. I always thought that the more I practiced the more flexible I’d become, which is true up to a point. The problem is, I wasn’t taking the ageing process into account. I’m in my seventies now and have found that, with the best will in the world, my knees just won’t accommodate lotus anymore. Oh yes, I can get into half lotus, but the other half eludes me. My back won’t bend like it used to. I can just about do bow pose, but its not pretty (I might be kidding myself here, tbh I haven’t tried it lately!) .

Of course, the other thing about ageing is that you are supposed to get wiser.

Wisdom is another thing that eludes me. But what I have learnt through my practice, and now accept, is that its ok not to be as bendy as the next person, or even be as bendy as I used to be.

Keeping practicing does not necessarily make me super flexible, strong, and balanced, but it does (and this is a very big does) keep me more flexible, strong and balanced than I would be if I didn’t practice. Worrying about that elusive posture won’t make me achieve it, but working towards the best posture this old body can achieve is in itself the reward. Each time I forward bend and find I can still easily place my palms on the floor I am reminded of how many people of my age who aren’t able to do that, and I feel like a ten year old again when I do manage to get up into headstand.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that yoga has given me a positive frame of mind, making me proud of what I can achieve, instead of worrying about what I can’t, or regretting how I’ve changed. It is a life lesson I can carry through all aspects of my life too.

I see all those Instagram pictures of flexible folk in incredible poses, arm balances, legs above their heads, and all the rest, and I admire them, I really do, but I’m happy to leave that practice to them, and just be grateful that yoga improves my health and wellbeing in ways I could never have imagined when I was nine years old and walking on my knees in lotus.

I have a wii. I know I’m an oldie and probably shouldn’t be allowed. But I do. It’s mine. I bought it for myself. I bought it a few years back with the wii-fit thinking that it would only take a couple of months before I would be sylph like and full of energy. Like wot the advert said I would.

Now, its fair to say it took some time for me to master any of the basic activities, but the one that, to my dismay, still defeats me every bloomin’ time is the skateboarding. Why can’t I do it? It can’t be that hard. Just put the board sideways, scoot with your foot, and lean backwards or forwards to steer. Bob’s yer uncle. Easy peasy.

Nope. Doesn’t work for me. I cannot, cannot, steer the thing. My little mii crashes into the fences, goes the wrong way, misses the obstacles, whilst big me is floundering backwards and forwards and cursing. Nil points. Nada.

Coz is a whiz at it. Without any effort at all she’s on the thing, and her mii is waving its arms in joyful victory at the massive score she’s attained without a hiccup. So it’s obviously not quite as impossible as it feels to me it is.

I can ski. Ski jump. Fly. Hula Hoop. March about and all the other stuff with varying degrees of success, but the skateboard is my nemesis.

I’ve never tried a real one, perhaps I should, you know, to get the hang of it a bit. But frankly, given the virtual experience, I’d probably break my neck.

Actually, I’ve just thought of the other thing that I really, really, can’t do – Baseball.

Sport is not my thing in the real world. I’m not competitive and am generally rubbish at all and every team game. I can’t run, throw or catch. I wish I was better, but I’m not. I’ve come to terms with it and am happy to leave it to others to do. But how I wish I could hit that virtual ball.

I’m always ‘a little late’ or ‘a little too early’ (I can hear the derision in its words). I know I’m cackhanded in real life, but in the virtual world too? That’s rubbing salt in the wound.

I wouldn’t mind, but after all this time of trying, I’m still not sylph like, not even virtually!