Ode to the Aging Body
Updated: Apr 8, 2020
Oh how I long to be turned upside down To see a new perspective Shake out the dust bunnies Be a kid again When did life get so serious?
When I was a child, my favorite thing to do was handstands. I’d practice for hours in my grandma’s living room counting the seconds I could stay upside down. I couldn’t wait until mom got home from work so I could show her.
The last handstand I did was Sunday, October 18, 2015. I have calcification in my wrists now, so I can’t do handstands. I can still get upside down on my forearms….it’s just not quite the same.
Aging takes a toll. Some of you may be laughing as I haven’t quite hit my 40s yet. Laugh if you must, but I get it- the sadness and grief that comes with an aging body.
The body’s gonna do what it does regardless of our opinion. How do we come into some sort of acceptance about that? How do we soften and find peace with that? Surprise! Yoga has a recipe.
Consider this:
Imagine not having your vision. Being unable to pick up your phone or open your laptop to read this post; to witness the myriad of colors in a sunset; to gaze upon a newborn child.
Imagine not having the ability to walk or get yourself from place to place. I know some of you have been there; and many have recovered- consider the contrast between then and now.
Take a deep breath. And another. And even deeper, another. What if you couldn't do that?
What if your vocal cords didn’t work? You couldn’t sing to your favorite music or chant your favorite chants. You couldn't tell the dear ones in your life you love them.
If you have any one of these faculties in working order, embrace it. Honor it. Bow to it in deep gratitude over and over for one day it could be gone.
When we make an effort to focus on the positive our brain changes. It literally changes its structure. If you’re interested in learning more read The Book of Joy written by the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
So I’ve said goodbye to the handstand. It’s ok. Besides, Yoga isn’t really about handstands, now is it?
