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 Candrāsana 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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