Stronger Now Than at 65: An Interview with Ellen Pechman

by Baxter

Ellen with her teacher Sandra Razielli

Ellen Pechman, who is one of my students, made a very bold announcement in Montana last summer that caught my attention. She said she noted a distinct improvement in her strength and physical power since she started seriously practicing yoga at age 65, and told me she is stronger now then when she began. I decided that I would really love to hear more about this, so I asked her if she would let me interview her. I�m pleased to say that she agreed, and here are some of the highlights of that interview. 

Baxter: I�ll start by asking, what were things like before age 65?

Ellen: I became aware, in my late 30s, of ill-defined �back problems,� which, by my early 50s, were attributed to scoliosis, along with a misaligned patella that no longer had any remaining cartilage cushioning. I responded to these unnerving indicators by working regularly with a personal trainer and becoming more systematic and faithful to walking and taking yoga classes. I celebrated my 60th� the �new 40��birthday on a vigorous BackRoads camping and hiking trip, and I felt as if I had tricked Mother Age. 

But six months before 65th birthday, I began to notice intense lower back pains during my normal work, life, and exercise routine. I had more difficulty moving from sitting to standing, walking the staircases in my house and the neighborhood hills, and several sciatica flair-ups, forcing me to acknowledge something was awry. A visit to the doctor led to the terrifying diagnosis of having �irreversible stenosis� (said the consulting doctor) coupled with osteoporosis in two hip points.

Baxter: How did yoga help you with all this?

Ellen: My doctors strongly advocated a pharmaceutical response, but I was leery of medication. I had already begun to see the mounting research evidence hinting at the potential deleterious side effects of some of the drugs being used to counter age-related structural problems. When I suggested that I turn to a different kind of yoga routine in lieu of medication, the doctors countered with warnings. �Whatever you do, don�t do yoga extensions,� urged the osteopath I was seeing. My internist suggested that yoga was fine, but it �will not strengthen your bones, which are getting more and more brittle.� 

These warnings seemed counter to what I had been learning from my regular weekly yoga practice, so I was perplexed. Since I had already established a regular weekly yoga practice by this time, I turned for a more balanced view to Kripaulu, where the well-known yoga/scoliosis expert, Elise Miller, was offering a five-day workshop directed at those of us with scoliosis curves. 

After one week with Elise, I had a whole new understanding of the ripple effect of even a slight scoliosis curve and how to use yoga poses to counter the effects of that curve as I age. With her wise and skillful teaching, I learned to expand and extend my body from my core and in multiple directions simultaneously, and to do so regularly and, significantly, always with props. Small, smart moves�propped and sustained�appeared to be the key. Her wisdom was to emphasize the importance of engaging my whole body�muscles, bones, connective tissues, etc. �and to concentrate on building core strength over �achieving� a pose. 

Back in home in Bethesda, MD, I upped my yoga practice to take classes two-to-three times a week with several very talented Iyengar-inspired and Miller-taught yoga teachers. During the summer of my 70th birthday, I relocated to the Bay Area where I benefited even more fully from your teaching, Baxter, and the advice of the YFHA team. Since my 70th birthday, yoga has become my mainstay. 

By last summer, as I approached 71, I began to realize that the practices I was using were actually making me stronger! 

Baxter: And now, after 5+ years of regular practice, what has changed? 

Ellen: It is very clear that I have a stronger core and more flexibility. Thus far, in the past year, even with some periods of more fatigue and stress, rarely do I miss more than a few days of fairly vigorous yoga. I also now have a wider range of yoga poses/shapes than I had in my arsenal when the stenosis flared up. And, at least once each week, I take a more challenging class. I always marvel at how much I can achieve when guided by my teachers. My greatest joy comes when I can hold the balance and standing poses, especially Ardha Candrasana and Vasisthasana and various supported inversions �my favorite challenge moves! 

Baxter: How has yoga made you stronger and what are at least three prime examples of daily activities that have improved strength wise via you regular practice. 

Ellen: I have always been an extremely active person. I�m on my feet a lot, in and out of cars, and up and down stairs. Instead of avoiding movements, I take them on! If there is a staircase, rather than an elevator, I take it. I try to turn invitations to meet for coffee or a meal into a time to walk, especially to walk the hills. And I am regularly in my kitchen, cooking, often for a few hours. While all-day preparation for a dinner party does me in by the day�s end, I host gatherings and cook as often as I can (occasionally stopping several times during a cooking day to practice 10-15 minutes of restorative poses). 

I also believe my improved strength has come from a better understanding of my body structure, so it is easier these days for me to stop and do a few minutes of yoga-influenced stretches in response to inflammation, tension, or �pain,� before stopping a day�s plan. 

Baxter: What parts or tools of the yoga practice seem to have the greatest impact for you?

Ellen: Knowing the value of small, dynamic moves held for 10 or more seconds is key. And I organize sets of moves in my mind: floor warm-ups on my back, a whole range of sitting and twisting poses, vinyasa-related elements, balances, standing poses. This helps provide me with a familiar routine that I can readily call on, enabling me to build on strengths I already have. 

I find that starting my practice with Down Dog and Puppy poses, and then going to floor for Knees to Chest, hip openers, and piriformis stretches, gives me a powerful foundation. With that foundation, I can more easily move to more demanding standing poses and a full range of options. The challenge for me is to slow down and to fully use my breath, and when I follow that long-taught wisdom of using the breath, the improved quality of my practice yields a powerful outcome.

I believe as a result of this arsenal of yoga-based practices that there haven�t been any real crises since arriving here, but, if/when they come, I am armed with the knowledge that I can always go back to the specialized �basic� yoga classes and turn to a savvy teacher to keep an eye on the work and to redirect any unconstructive moves or poses I might inadvertently take.

Thanks for the inspiration, the wisdom, and the opportunity to reflect back on it all!

Ellen Pechman is a mother, long-time educator, developing artist, and life explorer, who found yoga in her mid-30s and practiced it intermittently until, in her mid-60s, she discovered its power for self-discovery, healing, and strength. A life-long East Coaster, in her 71st year, she is gleefully launching life�s next phase in Richmond, California.

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