02/04/2023
A few years ago, when I was doing my postgraduation in yoga, we were on a tour with some senior citizens traveling in the same train and we often spent the long commute singing songs or playing games. While a few grumpy senior citizens grumbled all the way, there were a few who vociferously joined the merrymaking, and would complement us for making the journey joyous. Its was then, I started understanding the lifestyle hurdles of old aged.
When one finds oneself on the other side of 60, they are bound to be inconvenienced by some minor or major ailment. Those who know the art of aging gracefully take such obstacles in their stride, for it is the attitude that matters. They have already survived a million hardships financial, familial, emotional, psychological, professional and maybe a few accidents and see themselves as survivors. This is the attitude of senior citizens who have embraced their age. A quote on the internet puts it “Nobody is free of problems, only the packages are different.”
The story of a women Reena Varma inspires me those days. This gritty grandmother at 87, still climbs the two flights of stairs to her second-floor apartment in Pune. Her life has been a roller coaster and what is interesting is how gracefully Reena had ridden the ride. Having had to care for a husband who had a paralytic stroke to seeing her son lose his life to substance abuse, Reena’s mantra through it all was to keep walking forward.
At the age of 75, she decided to trek the Nathula Pass. She often says, “I am a fighter. I do not give up, and am almost always ready to take on whatever comes my way.” An active participant in various walkathons, she has also won three so far. What one can learn from her is to be resilient and to have the courage to take on any adversity that life throws at you.
Everybody hopes to age gracefully but how many actually do? This is because most people often confuse ‘ageing gracefully’ with ‘looking young’ and go to great lengths to appear young from going under the scalpel to prosthetic makeovers.
Then there are those who choose to defy age with their vitality, zing and zest for life.
We find many such Reena Varma around us in our practice who are fighting their own battle, be it big or small These are ordinary people like you and me, and yet they are a class apart.
Take away message simply put, We all age differently. And since we can’t control time and aging slowly isn’t possible. But some people do seem to look younger than others of the same age. But graceful aging doesn’t necessarily mean accepting wrinkles and gray hair, hot flashes mood swings, incontinence etc and learning to live with them. Instead, to age gracefully means more about being healthy and happy. Maintain a healthy lifestyle. To pay attention to what makes you feel best and do things that brings a peaceful smile on your face and indeed inspire others by it.
A novelist rightly said, “There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle, or the mirror that reflects it.”
I would like to be the candle for people in need. It gives me immense satisfaction to see a peaceful smile on a distressed soul.
As a practitioner of Ayurveda and yoga therapy I work on geriatrics issues, stress management lifestyle disorders.
Provide integrated treatment for arthritis, hypertension, diabetes, obesity and various other elements through Ayurvedic panchakarma and yoga therapy.
If you find this post interesting or resonate to “Aging Gracefully” or have any queries or need any help regarding health and wellbeing, I will be more than happy to help you.
