"If you can breathe and raise a finger (any finger), you’re a natural for yoga,” according to Carol Winfield, certified Kripalu Yoga instructor and an 88 year old who wants to teach people that “Old is Magnificent.” Talking to Winfield is like a rush of positive energy. Her zest for life and appreciating and savoring every last morsel of this world is contagious and rare. This incredible woman became certified to teach yoga at the age of 76. Yoga has brought her a sense of serenity and self- assurance and she has seen what it can do for others.

Winfield likes to tell the story of when she was teaching yoga at a nursing home in Vermont and she was teaching them the think method. She had them imagine themselves performing the yoga positions. One woman who was in the room was in a wheelchair and had been unable to move her hands or fingers for some time. When Winfield came back for another class the women moved her fingers and said it was due to the think method.

This self-acclaimed late bloomer will be teaching a yoga class geared toward people over 6o. This class is designed for people of any age and any physical condition. Winfield hopes that yoga will “bring the joy and beauty and miracle of age into their lives.” For as Winfield states “Old is where it is at.”

Winfield marches to the beat of her own drummer whether it is teaching yoga at 88, going mountain climbing, or founding a laughing club. Her determination to not only fully live her life but to encourage others to find their own path is an inspiration. Author of “Yoga in the Morning, Martini at Night” she has a refreshingly upbeat perspective on aging and how it is a positive not a negative.

While the plastic surgeons and media may worship youth and beauty at all cost Winfield laments the theory that taking wrinkles away will change who we are, that our physical appearance had anything to do with our inner selves. Winfield proudly proclaims that she thinks she is beautiful wrinkles and all. In this youth obsessed culture Winfield wants the world to see that the ‘miracle of age is incredible, the fact that we are here should be a triumph!”

Yoga has given Winfield a level of self-confidence and cheerfulness that was missing in her life. Her guiltless pleasure of one martini a night is a perfect balance for her yoga in the morning. Feeding body and soul and embracing her journey in life.

Her book is a primer on how to accept ourselves and embrace the unique individuals we all are. According to Winfield too many people retreat and criticize themselves much more harshly than they would criticize others. Yoga was her path to finding acceptance with herself and appreciating what her body and her spirit could do.

As Winfield writes learn “to be good to yourself, as you optimistically prepare to make your Own Life Decisions.”

How Old?!
Yoga with Carol 60+
Thursdays: 10:30-11:30am

Evolution Yoga - 864-9642
Drop in rate- $11, no pre-registration necessary

Sarah Lemnah writes on senior issues for the Champlain Valley Agency on Aging. This article originally appeared in the Burlington Free Press.