01/11/2025
“The attributes of a perfected body are beauty, grace, strength and adamantine hardness.”
- Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra, III:46, translated by Alistair Shearer
My seventy-one-year-old sister who is an avid hiker, tells me she feels stronger and fitter than she has ever been in her entire life. It’s a phrase I’m hearing more frequently from aging yogis who are incorporating other practices off the mat. This is also how I feel, having taken up my own swimming routine combined with walking and an emphasis in my yoga practice on gentle strengthening, stabilizing and balancing. I’m convinced that biological fitness can belie chronological age. Like my friend John who often shares a lane with me at the local pool as he does his two-kilometer thrice-weekly swim. He is still walking beautifully; upright and elegant. He’s 77 and sharp as a tack and in better shape than many people half his age.
You’d be forgiven for thinking that an emphasis on cardiovascular health doesn’t tie with traditional yoga practice. But you may be surprised to know that In Ayurveda (the sister science to Yoga), there has long been a distinction between vyayama or “exercise that gives energy” and that exercise that strengthens the cardio-vascular system and builds muscle mass, maintains healthy bones, and improves blood flow. Cardio-vascular exercise increases capillarization, bringing life-giving oxygen and nutrients to internal organs and other tissues. Heart health can also benefit the body in surprising ways, including lowering the risk of cancer and dementia. Conversely, damage to peripheral blood flow can affect how fast you walk, your grip strength and even contribute to vision loss.
Exercise that comes under the category of vyayama are yoga practices that give energy but do not use up a lot of chips. Slow movement practiced calmly, gently and methodically with an emphasis on diaphragmatic breathing is considered vyayama, like Sun Salutations. Breathing practices, and just about all yoga postures (asana) if practiced with an emphasis on improving blood circulation to the internal organs can be considered vyayama. Restorative Yoga as well as meditation and Yoga Nidra, build prana or energy. They are all forms of vyayama.
And while yoga practice can be strengthening and improve coordination and balance, it’s not necessarily as effective for building cardiovascular health as walking briskly or biking for 45 minutes without stopping. Increasingly I hear of yogis taking to the Pickleball court or to the gym to balance their practice. This is wise, especially if you prefer your time on the yoga mat to be more contemplative.
I’ve always found the 46th Sutra in the fourth book of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras fascinating: there’s no mention of supreme flexibility. Strength, firmness and “glowing from within like a diamond” are the descriptors of physical vitality. If practiced with mindfulness, all exercise can be an extension of a yoga practice.
How do you stay strong and fit, on or off your yoga mat?
