Student Profile: Elaine, a 73-year old yogi

Elaine in Camel pose

Elaine Brophy is a 73-year old who started practicing Bikram Yoga last year on the recommendation of her son David and daughter-in-law who practice in Maryland and were up visiting. While searching the internet for a Bikram hot yoga studio in the area, David found Bikram Yoga Merrimack Valley in North Andover. David urged his mother and sister Jeri try this style of hot yoga, particularly because both Elaine and Jeri have Type II diabetes and yoga is known to help with the insulin resistance associated with that disease.

Elaine was hesitant about hot yoga especially due to the heat factor. “I have always hated heat and humidity and thought it would be too much for me. However, I went to make my son happy. I planned on doing the one class and then saying I tried it, I can't do it … now leave me alone about it,” Elaine said with a grin.

Teri Almquist, director and teacher at Bikram Merrimack Valley instructed Elaine to just stay in the room and breathe, and only do what your body could do for today.  "When Elaine started she was unable to sit down on her knees and needed the wall to lean against for several of the breathing postures.  A year later, her body has changed dramatically.  She doesn't need to lean against the wall anymore and her knees have strengthened considerably," boasted Teri.

To Elaine’s surprise, she managed to stay in the 105 degree room for the entire 90 minutes. She went into Savasana (dead body pose) when she needed time out from the series of standing and mat postures.

Jeri got hooked quickly and urged Elaine to continue going to classes together. Elaine realized how good she felt from this type of yoga workout so she started attending classes 2 to 3 days a week with her daughter. “Jeri really helped motivate me to keep going. Between her and Teri, I got the support I needed to keep up my practice,” Elaine said.

Elaine’s chiropractor suggested that she go to Bikram yoga more often as it was helping her with a back injury so she started going 4 or 5 days a week. Today, she tries to go to Bikram yoga class every day.

“I completed a 30-day challenge in May and then went on to complete 63 classes by July. I will be continuing until August to complete at least 73 or more classes in 73 days to match my age,” Elaine said proudly.

How does she stay motivated? The results motivate her. Elaine says she feels so good and wants to continue to stay active and believes yoga is doing that for her.

Postures are challenging and she struggles with the balance poses especially Awkward pose, where you stand on your toes. However, she continues to notice improvements over time. Her favorite postures are Camel and Fixed Firm because they seemed impossible to do when she started and now she can do them.

What advice does Elaine give to others? I would encourage other senior citizens to try a yoga class and to know that nobody will judge you. Just stay in the room and breathe and do what is comfortable for you. I can promise you that the results will make you want to continue.  Don’t let the heat scare you. You will adjust to it as I did and then you welcome it because you realize it is the heat that allows your body to get into the postures. It is those postures that help your body to become more flexible during the rest of your day.

After a year of practice, Elaine boasts on how much energy she has. When she started at age 72, she weighed 170 lbs, had spikes in her blood pressure, high cholesterol, and was fighting to keep her blood sugar in control. This past February, her total cholesterol was 240, LDL was163, and A1C was 6.0% (down from 6.6%).

Elaine in Fixed Firm pose

This past May, her total cholesterol was down to 213, LDL down to 132, and A1C was 5.9%. Elaine’s doctor told her that if she were to see a new doctor she would need to tell him she was diabetic, as it would not show in any test. Elaine shared that she can even have a dish of ice cream or a couple of cookies and it doesn't make her blood sugar go crazy.

The bonus and icing on the cake for all of her hard work? Elaine has lost 25 pounds and went down three sizes in her jeans. “I take no meds and I feel certain my health will only continue to improve.  Yoga feeds my soul and I love it,” Elaine said confidently with a smiling happy yoga face!

 For more information:

www.bikramyogamv.com/

 www.bikramyoga.com/