Over the years I have engaged sporadically in programs of exercise, with long time intervals between. I have never been physically robust or athletic, or consistent in my exercise; generally when I worked out at all it was to quiet the guilt I felt not moving about or at the insistence of my doctor and spouse that my health was suffering and I needed to get off the couch.

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About two years ago I began having episodes of back pain and shoulder pain. I discovered that it was becoming more and more difficult for me to reach or bend without disturbing some muscle somewhere in my legs, shoulders, neck or lower back. My range of motion had diminished noticeably. After periods at my desk, or driving in my car, just standing straight and getting going without aching seemed a chore. On occasion I found that I was unable to tie my shoes or put on my socks without sitting on a low stool or on one of the lower stairs in our home. Leaning over at my waist was becoming difficult. I also noticed that, at times, I felt unsteady negotiating stairs while carrying a bundle of books or a food tray and my sense of unsteadiness was unnerving. I found myself refusing to help others lifting or moving chairs or performing routine physical chores at home or in the social groups I belong to for fear of bringing on a pain episode. I began routine use of over the counter pain medications (aspirin & ibuprofen) and purchased a number of the 3AM TV infomercial pain stopper devices (none worked.) Driven by inactivity I was becoming become increasingly inactive and staring down the barrel of the sedentary spiral and my fear was real.

For years friends and relatives had spoken of the virtue of Yoga and though I suspected that there might be some value to taking up a practice I was intimidated by the prospect of having to learn complex positions and practices among a group of people. About ten years ago I tried yoga, taking two beginner classes with an instructor and a number of other students. I struggled throughout two sessions and didn’t return for my third class. In retrospect it occurred to me that during my brief initial experience I received little personal attention and as I stumbled and fumbled through the seemingly complicated poses with the very foreign sounding names I thought that yoga was probably above my learning patience level. 

About a year ago my wife introduced me to Nancy Friedman. Barbara was a member of one of Nancy’s classes and she told me that her methods might suit me. 

After an initial interview and early lessons during the summer and autumn of 2009 I worked with Nancy on a weekly basis and responded to the flexibility of her approaches almost from the outset. In the winter of 2010 I continued taking yoga classes, weekly, in
 Florida and returned to Nancy’s tutelage in early spring, at which time I increased my weekly sessions with her from once to twice weekly. 

How Nancy instructs seems as critical to the confidence that I have in her as the exercises or the positions themselves. From day one she has insisted that certain principles will apply to our work that have suited me effectively; she has kept to her promise that her work with me will always develop around how I feel my body is responding to the work. She listens to me and she adjusts the practices based on what I say and what she sees in my development. I have one or two physical constraints that require respect (one being an artificial left hip) and that respect is part of our work. There are aspects of my practice that I perform with greater ease than others and Nancy blends these with some of the more challenging positions to continue to build confidence and to keep the learning ‘new’.

In an atmosphere of quiet, supported by background taped songs, Nancy leads me through a series of stretches, yoga positions, breath exercises, and core strength practices that have literally altered the way that I appear and more important, the way that I feel. I look forward to my sessions with her as a meditative, or spiritual break, as much as the opportunity to practice physically or to stretch.

She has taught me that the ‘edge’ in my yoga positions, or entire practice for that matter, is the place where my learning happens and that ‘tolerable discomfort’ is the crucial space where change will occur for me. She’s been an unqualified success in her approach.

My physical range of motion has improved dramatically. My core muscle mass has increased and my waist isn’t as ample as it once was. I have significantly more stamina and tire much less than last year. Tying my shoes and putting on socks—once grudging affairs—are a snap. I join in to help when people ask for assistance doing physical chores. Most importantly, I feel that my yoga practice has been developed and tuned to the person I am; that I am growing in strength and confidence from week to week and that the years I frankly worried I was facing as I aged would be restricted and painful lay before me know without the concerns I once had. I move more easily and I take on physical challenges with a confidence that is entirely new, and blessedly welcome, for me.

It is yoga and Nancy Friedman that encourage this physical and meditative renaissance in my life and I am grateful to her for her skill, her sensitivity, and her wisdom.

Robert E. Donohue
Writer
Age:66