Why Yoga is for Everyone (even if you're 50 or 90)

Why is Yoga for everyone?

In Brazil (where two of my teachers come from )  they have a T-Shirt that read: “Yoga pra todo mundo” which can be translated as  "yoga for everybody and every body"

But is yoga truly for everyone?  

Surely there are some people who can’t do yoga? Don’t you have to be a certain age?  super bendy?  Strong? 

The answer quite simply is No!  

Because if you approach Yoga not by thinking of stretching, but rather about accessing the JOINTS, then it is for everyone. 

It’s quite possible that for some folk they have to do some postures in a modified way if they have a specific joint injury or issue. It’s quite possible that some people may need to use a chair or extra bolster (yoga prop).  It’s quite possible that some people will need to leave the posture early (as in this system for Joint Renewal(TM) we can stay in postures for quite a length of time).  But does any of that mean it’s not for everyone?  Not at all.

Let’s start with age. 

How old are you now?

And how old will you be in a year’s time?

Whether you do or you don’t practice sequences or practices to keep your joints healthy, next year you will be a year older.

And if you do start to work on your joints,  it is much more likely that a regular and consistent practice, you might surprise yourself at how your body doesn’t age in that year.   

If you start yoga at 87  (and I know someone who did...)  yep, three years later they are 90! Still doing yoga?  You betcha!    … but guess what?  feeling so much younger!   So the fact is that it doesn’t matter what age you are - this is for everyone.

Need more inspiration - You can watch this video about someone in the UK  who is now 105 who started Yoga at 95!


Okay – what about flexibility? 
Joint Renewal is for everyone whether you are as stiff as a board or as bendy as a pipe cleaner  both body types need health joints  - practice this system and you will benefit.

  And just a note for those bendy types - if  you  are hypermobile, you will find that you start to feel and understand your joints more.  Part of the reason why,  if you are a hypermobile person, you are in danger of damaging yourself is because you have lost a sense of feeling in the ligaments and tendons – so you are able move past safety in your joints.

The postures of The Joint Renewal System(TM)  have all been designed in a way that will not allow you to over bend, and that any extension is always given with precise instruction so you can’t damage yourself. 

And for those of you who are super stiff… welcome to the world of increased flexibility. 

  Quite rapidly you will see results.  

I have many students who within three or four classes can already experience increased flexibility in their hips, knees or shoulders. 

  And you are not pushing or forcing your joints to open.  You are simply allowing two friends to help you  – gravity and time – they become your teachers. 

  So the fact that it doesn’t matter your level of flexibility is why this  is for everyone.


And how about strength?  Surely to hold downward dog for a long time, or go into backbend – you are going to need some serious strength? 

And yes, in certain yoga practices your routine will include the kind of postures which feel like you must force yourself up and to hold the asana with a brute strength.

 By gripping and holding and tightening and forcing, if you are strong, young and flexible enough you can achieve these postures.  Therefore, yoga is often seen as a type of fitness regime for young and strong people.

But when the focus is on Joint Renewal, you are not going to do any of those postures (unless you want to).   Instead, you are learning about the relationship between your brain/mind and the body.  You are looking for a coherence between the body/mind system.  And any strength that comes is  from a deep understanding within and it’s as much about relaxing and letting go as it is to maintain a posture.  While some of the postures can be quite demanding, they are paradoxically held in an environment which is about softening. 

 So when your mind asks for a little extra, something more from a muscle or tendon to renjuvenate the joint, your instruction from the mind goes to the body, and the body responds. 

  One student I know said she never goes to the gym any more, she is far more toned, strong and supple in her body because of practicing this system of Joint Renewal.  What we don’t realise is that we have lost a lot of body strength simply because we don’t have the awareness of those muscles or joints in our minds any more.

Approaching the body with a meticulously designed holistic body/mind yoga practice means that every muscle gets a demand, a request to work from the mind, every   joint is explored and requested to move from many angles, and the mind, the neural brain map of the body is firing up to stimulate this body mind connection.  

And this is all done in a wonderful way with  time and gravity to aid you. 

As modern neuroscience now tells us, the mind has as much to do with building strength as the body. 

It therefore doesn’t matter if you feel strong because you can develop strength in your mind.  This is why yoga is for everyone.

I hope that shows you why I believe this Joint Renewal System is for everyone.  And to be clear -  I’m sharing this with my understanding from the perspective from various different types of yoga I've practiced over the years.  Scaravelli, Kaiut, Yoga Mais have all pointed me in the same direction so as I developed my own Joint Renewal System(TM) I knew it had to be accessible for everyone no matter how old, how stiff and inflexible.  

And I would agree that other types of yoga are not for everyone.  Indeed I would caution people against certain practices based on what I have seen as quite damaging approaches to the body.  

Ready to give it a try? All classes are live online.   If you have never practiced with me before, you are eligible for my new student discount.   

I look forward to welcome you to class Join an Online Class Today!  and if you have more questions you can also book a quick 15 minute call.   I love to meet and welcome my new students in person even if I'm teaching online. 




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