The yoga life of an ordinary old man

The origin of the story

In December 2007, on a plain winter morning, we met Shen Weide in a spacious building in Tiantongyuan, Beijing. He is of medium height, is about eighty years old, has white eyebrows, a red face, a vigorous spirit, a soft body, and a full of energy when he speaks.

Shen Weide, people familiar with yoga are not unfamiliar with this name. He has been practicing yoga for nearly 20 years since he was 63. No one would have imagined that an elderly man in his 60s who had been idle at home after retirement would eventually make his limbs soft through his hard work and hard work, and he could do all kinds of difficult movements at will.

In the years before 1992, Lao Shen basically spent the struggle against illness. Due to his years of working as a mechanical designer, he was under great pressure physically and mentally and was plagued by all kinds of diseases. He unfortunately suffered from heart disease, hypertension, arteriosclerosis, gallstones and other diseases. Long-term speech caused him to turn from acute pharyngitis and rhinitis to chronic pharyngitis and rhinitis, and even visited the hospital five times due to gastric bleeding. It was precisely because of his health that the red light was on that Mr. Shen realized that he really needed to exercise. His previous mentality of not being afraid of heaven and earth gradually transformed into a strong desire to survive. This may be the driving force for him to persist in practicing yoga for a long time in the future.

Encounter Yoga

There is always some sense of destiny in everyone's life. "1992" is like a fatalistic symbol for Lao Shen. A friend gave him a book introducing yoga, which was the "Complete Collection of Yoga" translated by Li Xiaoqing of the Institute of Journalism of Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. His friend gave it to him as a reference for medical treatment. This unintentional move helped achieve the birth of a "yoga master".

What kind of character a person has determines what kind of fate he will have. Perhaps Mr. Shen is a person who strives for self-improvement and is proactive in his bones. At first, he also practiced Tai Chi and subscribed to many health magazines and publications. Later, Mr. Shen was fated to encounter yoga, so he devoted himself to practicing this martial arts wholeheartedly. The ancients said: "It is better to hold one for more and less good." Save one end and you will achieve something!

Every morning, Mr. Shen would go to the riverside in Shanghai's Hongkou Park to practice yoga for 3 hours on an empty stomach, for more than ten years.

Heaven rewards hard work. After just four years of practicing yoga, Elder Shen has become a completely different person before and after. His face is ruddy, his eyes are bright, and his steps are light. Smooth skin and quick thinking, he really does not look like an old man who is getting older. When Shen Lao was 75 years old, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine conducted a pulse test for him. The results showed that his physiological age was much younger than his actual age. Nowadays, he is even more energetic, healthy and confident! Because of practicing yoga, Lao Shen was included in "World Who's Who" and "World Chinese Talent Ceremony", and many magazines and TV stations had exclusive interviews with him. He has also published three books related to yoga himself, and another new book is expected to come out in the first half of 2008.

Later, Lao Shen talked about his understanding of yoga in simple terms.

Talk about yoga

Author: Is yoga suitable for the elderly? Some people think that such difficult movements are not suitable for many elderly people.

Lao Shen: Before I practiced yoga, I had many diseases in my body. I started practicing when I was 60. In the past, my bones were very hard and my body was not soft, but through years of practice, I can now easily fold my legs behind my head, and then I can lift my entire body into the air with both hands. Some people don't believe that I am so old and suspect that I must have a foundation before. However, I am not born soft, but I practice hard after tomorrow. There is nothing difficult in the world, but I am afraid of those who have a heart! It is never too late for anyone to practice yoga at any time. Men, women, old and young, who are sick or not, can practice it.

Author: What should I pay attention to when practicing yoga?

Lao Shen: Modern people practice yoga under overload. In order to achieve standard posture, stretch the body hard, which often leads to ligament and muscle strain. Now, if you really practice yoga, you must have a general understanding of the structure of the human body, and you must be clear about the structure inside the body. Practicing yoga is mainly about this middle vein-the spine. Yoga makes it clear that it is actually about practicing a spine and requires the spine to be very flexible and elastic. It seems that there are countless yoga postures, but in summary, there are actually only five postures: front, back, left, right, and twist. No matter how you change it, you can't escape these five postures, and you always make some changes among them. As long as the spine is moved, other areas will be much easier.

Author: How to overcome some difficulties encountered while practicing yoga?

Lao Shen: Maintaining health is not an easy task. In the early days of practicing sitting on a table, some people couldn't sit, lay down, and couldn't let go. That was equivalent to throwing away all previous efforts. In short, they had to go through a painful test. In addition, we should also talk about fate. After the fated person finds this good method, he will have correct guidance, have firm confidence and tenacious perseverance, and will finally be able to learn something; on the contrary, some people will be afraid of it when they see it is difficult. This will definitely not work. When we practice yoga, we actually need to have the spirit of "asking for trouble". Without this spirit, we cannot practice well.

The three major joints of the hip, knee and ankle must be stretched first. These preparations must be done well. These preparations can play a role in activating meridians and dredging channels, especially when moving the big toes, which has a good brain health effect for the elderly. First open the three major joints of the ankle, knee and hip, and then make a single disc. When both legs can be placed on one side, you can naturally have two sides and you can sit on. You have to endure it after sitting on it. You can't just take it off when you feel a little uncomfortable.

Author: What should I do if I can't help it?

Lao Shen: Don't practice if you can't help it. You must be able to endure when facing pain. Some people experience soreness, pain, swelling and other phenomena when they first sit down. It doesn't matter. This means that there is inflammation in your area. If you touch your joints, muscles, ligaments, etc. that you didn't exercise before, now, how can it not hurt? You feel sour, painful, and swollen, which means that there is a blockage of qi and blood there. You make it painful, and then the pain gradually disappears. The so-called "general rules do not hurt" is this truth.

Author: We want to know what advice you have for beginners to yoga?

Lao Shen: Don't compare with others, don't go into the misunderstanding of posture, and correct your thoughts and mentality. First of all, we must be sensible, not blindly learn, but must have a clear goal and direction. When you are a beginner, you can't have high ambitions and low hands. The so-called "the road is the simplest". The true truth is actually a very simple truth. Just like this double sitting cross-legged requires you to calm your mind, but it is really not easy to calm your mind.

PostScript

"The sky is too high for human hands to reach, but we must always keep our hands up." Teacher Shen Weide's yoga life is the best interpretation of the above sentence.

After bidding farewell to Lao Shen and walking on the streets in winter, there was an indescribable power in my heart...(Editor in charge: Teng Yun)