I am always impressed with an 80-year-old who is able to squat down, bounce up, and so on. After a busy period of working and raising children, older adults have freedom to do what they feel like. It is kind of a rebirth, or successful aging. Isn’t it?
What does successful aging mean? It refers to the transition from middle age to older age, with a low risk of disease, high functional level and participating in social activities. Because of my job nature, I meet many happy and healthy seniors. That doesn’t mean they all can squat down and bounce up, without any physical issues. In fact, many of them have different level of pain from arthritis, hip/knee replacements, etc. However, they have an accepting attitude toward physical decline but learn to cope well with it. Isn’t it still a successful aging?
When we are driving, reading, watching TV, only forward-facing movement is required. The side, back and lower part of the body get neglected, which causes muscle strains, torn ligaments and stressed joints. The following yoga poses help stretch different parts of the body and relieve physical pain. 
1. Dancing warrior
Direction: Open right hip, extend the left leg and find the heel-to-heel alignment. Bring your left palm on the left thigh and raise the right arm up overhead. Repeat the other side.
Benefits: This pose helps lengthen the muscles between the ribs and pelvis, including parts of the lower back. When stretching the arm overhead, we can also stretch the upper back and upper arm.

Chair yoga makes yoga accessible to seniors. While you are seated on the chair, you are able to stretch every part of the body. If you are a bit of uncertain what you can do, this seniors exercise class in Bassendean or Vic Park organized by Connect Victoria Park is a good starting point. 
Have you tried chair yoga before? How did you go? Leave me a comment below. 

Our body gives us some signals when something is not quite right. However, we are too busy in this modern lifestyle. We ignore the signals and keep moving forward. Yoga is a magic to me  as I give myself a pause to listen to all little signals. I like putting Toe Stand pose into my yoga sequence as this pose stretches our toes, improves balance and strengthens our legs. Have you ever cracked 3 times in this yoga pose? Why are joints cracking? Child pose is supposed to be a relaxation pose. Why are the feet cramping? Boat pose improves our balance, but why the legs are shaking/ twitching so much? 
 
Cracking
Cracking seems a bit awkward in a group yoga classes, but somehow gives my joints a sense of relaxation. The sound is created by the gases inside the synovial fluid, which reduces friction between the cartilages of the joints during movement.  When we come into or out of the yoga poses, gases, (including oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide) are escaped from the synovial fluid. When we stretch the joint capsule, gases are rapidly released as bubbles causing the cracking sound.
 
Cracking seems normal in yoga practice but we should not keep trying to pop one’s joint. This creates hypermobility and leads to instability in the joint. This instability can cause the surrounding musculature to tighten up to support the joint. Also, if there is pain associated with a cracking noise, that may be other physical conditions.
 
Cramping
Cramping happens when we stretch the muscle in ways that it is not used to. We don’t stretch the top of the feet in our daily life. Many of us get cramp up when we enter Hero pose. Muscles cramps can develop due to imbalances in various body salts, sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium. When you are sweating out more water, sodium and potassium than you are taking in, those losses can make the nerves that signal your muscles to contract or relax extra sensitive.
 
In 60-minute yoga class, I usually plan the class with 15-20 mins warm up, so everyone slowly raises the body temperature, gradually increases muscle elasticity, gets the blood, oxygen and other nutrients flowing to the muscles.
 
Some people experience in stomach cramp when bending forward. Our internal organs are also muscles. Keep hydrated but do not eat 30 mins before yoga. The gastrointestinal tract and other muscles thus do not compete for blood flow at the same time.
 
Twitching (Shaking)
My upper arms used to be quite weak. I kept my head down while I was in the corporate world and didn’t realise I had lost its strength. I thought my arm was going to break off in my first side plank pose. It was twitching so much and eventually I fell on my elbow.
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Muscles are made up of fibers that the nerves control. Some of the fibers rest while the others work in yoga poses. For example, in boat pose, we activate abdominal, adductors and quads. Stimulations to the nerves cause your muscle fibers to twitch. Twitching can occur because lactic acid accumulates in the muscles used.
As your muscles get stronger from regular practice, the fibers learn to co-ordinate. Twitching will disappear till you try a more advanced yoga poses. Little twitching has no harm and it is a way to build physical strength. However, if that is too much, back off from the pose. We don’t over do. Strength will come over time.  

​Tell me something about your yoga experience. Any questions about how your body reacts in yoga poses? 

​A 2-week holiday is very luxurious to me when I have a start-up business and also start a new life in Australia. I haven’t been back to Hong Kong for 2 years. It doesn’t sound long but I feel like ages. It has been harsh to myself not to visit my family and long time friends earlier.
 
The humidity and the over crowd are so familiar. It’s amazing there are still a few new railway lines coming up in this highly developed railway system. Every train arrives in 2 minutes in peak hours. Everyone is in a hurry.
 
“Hurry up” is built in our body system. We are worried about missing the boat. We are trained to cope well with a face-paced society in the 21st century. However, how do we cope with our body? Many of us, not until the body gives us many signals overtime, we do not slow down, cut down and calm down. I am grateful I find yoga, and I turn this hobby into my passion for setting up a yoga business to help people restore health.
 
How lovely to have my nephew and cousin to direct this photo shooting! Both of them work in advertising field. They are so professional. I had so much fun but I would say being a model is a challenging job! I was also happy to come back to this iconic landmark, Victoria Harbour, Tsim Sha Tsui. 
 
If we give ourselves 10 mins a day to go inward, our body will appreciate what we do for it. You can feel the mind-body connections. Enjoy your 10-min personal time.
 Warrior II

Directions:
Step one leg length apart. Turn left toes out, right toes in. Align with the heels in one straight line. Press fours corners of the feet on the ground.
Bend the left knee just above heel. Knee aligns with the 2nd toe so our left thigh muscle is rotating outward.
Raise the arms up at shoulder height. Draw the shoulder blades together and pull the arms away from each other.
 
Benefits:
Warrior II activates many parts of the body. We can strengthen legs and arms, stretch hips and chest, and also lengthen the spine. As you work on many parts of the body at once, it brings a powerful mental focus.
 
Dancing Warrior

Directions:
Spread the fingers and place the palms just below shoulders. In downward facing dog position, turn elbows in so arms are not hyperextending. Keep lifting upward towards the sky. Bring one leg up to the wall to parallel to the floor. Then bring another leg up towards the sky. Keep breathing.
 
Benefits:
Build arms and upper body strength. As we do an anti-gravity pose, it allows our internal organs to rest and reduces the compression of vertebra.

Do you feel like you are in a hurry all the time? How do you manage it? Please leave me comments below. 
​Thanks for reading. 

Photo: Timothy Ko
​Yoga Gear: lululemon, Cotton On
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