This short article was first published in Uptown Magazine, March April 2010.
Sharon McClinton, found yoga when she was 50. She discussed her fear of weakening bones, and the aging process in general, with her husband, a chiropractor. “You know, I really don’t want to get osteoporosis”, I want to remain flexible throughout my life,” she recalls. “He said, ‘You should try doing yoga.”.
That was 16 years ago and today, a strong, healthy woman has moved from yoga student to yoga teacher. “I just had not idea how much it would impact my life,” says McClinton. “What I discovered was that yoga is only in part about the postures, it’s more about unifying your mind and your body with your breath. So once you start paying attention to your breath and how it moves you, you end up becoming much more aware of your body,” she explains. All she gets follows her throughout the day. “even though I’m not doing downward facing dog or other poses during the day, I’m still breathing. I am still letting my breath lead me, I’m still noticing what I’m doing and how I’m doing it”.
Michelle Maue, has run Clayton Yoga, a yoga studio in Clayton since 2003, but she’s been practicing yoga for 12 years. When she began practicing, she says that she didn’t like being in her body. “I wasn’t truly at home here in this body,” she says. “So I thought, well, let me just try a yoga class because I know if I can calm myself down, I could probably be a much better support for my family.” What she found was what she calls “an overwhelming sense of spiritual connection to something bigger than me.”
In fact, Maue believes that people might not expect just how valuable finding one’s own weaknesses can be. “I think a lot of people in this culture would be surprised to find out that their vulnerability and their soft spots are actually treasures waiting to be revealed.”
by Dana Logan