Hello it’s Cate Stillman with the YogaHealer Real Life Show. I am thrilled to bring to you today Desiree Rumbaugh, one of my friends, and Michelle Marchildon, who have both co-authored Fearless After Fifty. In this conversation today, we talk about how older yogis actually need to turn their practice up instead of being overly careful. We talk about being strong, and what needs to happen next in the aging population that’s not really doing yoga yet.

For those who don’t know Desiree Rumbaugh, she is an internationally recognized yoga teacher. I met Desiree when we were both teaching Agni Sara yoga. She travels the world full-time sharing her compassion and her joy with others interested in the transformational power of yoga. She has the Wisdom Warriors community, which has been incredibly successful, and she’s attracted a lot of women to going much deeper into the strength of their body.

Michelle Marchildon is internationally recognized as the Yogi Muse. She’s a long-time student of Des, and she’s also an award-winning journalist and author. Fearless Over Fifty: How to Thrive with Grace, Grit, and Yoga.

Links:

• Fearless After Fifty: How to Thrive with Grace, Grit and Yoga will be available in August, 2017.

We are happy to give away a book to the first three listeners who are in the continental U.S. We are unable to ship overseas at this time. The first 3 people to email yogimuse@gmail.com will receive this offer.   

• Wisdom Warriors page
• Michelle Marchildon’s page
• Buy Finding More on the Mat on Amazon
• Michelle Marchildon’s YogaDownload page

Related Podcasts: 

• Tiffany Cruikshank on Knowing Yourself with Yoga
• Core Strength from a Centered Body with Donna Farhi
• Donna Farhi on Teaching + Practicing Yoga
• The Evolutions + Regressions of Intergenerational Relationships with Tom McBride

Show Highlights:

• 6:25 While there are countless resources that encourage older women to play it safe in yoga and other movement, there aren’t nearly enough resources to help older yogis stay strong and grow in their practice.
• 7:00 It all starts with a mindset evolution: because older women have been told that they should always play it safe, they need help realizing that while they should be careful, they are still incredibly capable in body and mind.
• 16:05 Even the smallest positive changes will improve health and wellbeing. By recognizing this concept of Kaizen, and not trying to drastically change habits which have been ingrained for decades, you can start to continuously change your habits without being overwhelmed.
• 29:15 A lot of us are probably going to live longer than our parents. By that logic, what 50 or 60 is now looks really different if you’re going to live to 100 instead of living to 80. Healthy lifestyle choices will help to avoid feeling ‘old’ even longer.
• 33:40 It is a cultural assumption that as we age, we are supposed to get sick and decrepit. By recognizing this, you’ll discover that it doesn’t actually have to be that way!
• 36:10 As you age, be open-minded, try new things, and take risks!

Favorite Quotes:

• “It’s mature women who’ve been around that are really fueling this whole exploration into wellness and into a more liberated way of living.” – Cate Stillman
• “We have a body after 50 and 60 that is almost as strong, but we have a much better mind: We have a mind that is ready to be resilient, a mind that’s ready to be persistent…, and a mind that’s ready to be patient.” – Michelle Marchildon
• “It’s never too late!” – Desiree Rumbaugh
• “Whenever you start, you change the course of your aging.” – Michelle Marchildon
• “The message is: ‘you’ve got to take it easy, you don’t want to hurt yourself.’ And Michelle and I are giving an opposite message. We’re saying ‘well, you have to be careful, but you also have to work.'”  – Desiree Rumbaugh
• “Yoga is a path that once you root down and stand taller, you can stand taller in all of your truths.” – Michelle Marchildon
• “I don’t really feel what my chronological age is. I feel just like I always feel. And a lot of it is based on how I feel in my body. So if you can still do stuff, you’re going to feel younger.” – Desiree Rumbaugh
• “Let’s see how good we can make this ride!” – Cate Stillman

BIO:

Desiree is an international yoga teacher with an unquenchable enthusiasm for life, love and healing. Desiree travels the world full­time sharing her compassion and her joy with others interested in the transformational power of yoga.

She blends playful humor with an authentic inquiry into the nature of being in order to bring the ancient teachings of wisdom into modern life.

Michelle Marchildon (PRONOUNCED MARSH­shil­dun) is known internationally as the Yogi Muse. She is a longtime student of Desiree’s, and an award­ winning journalist, author and columnist. You can find her in Yoga Journal, Yoga International, Mantra Yoga and Health, Origin Magazine, Elephant Journal, and Sports Illustrated. Fearless After Fifty is her third book on yoga.