Yoga Ninjas Over the Age of 50

Yogi Flight School is the proud home of well over 100 yoga ninjas over the age of 50, who are achieving their goals of arm balances and inversions every day.

In this week's featured blog post, we are thrilled to highlight 5 of these brave ninjas, eager to share their wildly individual and unique stories with you!

These women are some of the most active members of our private Facebook group community, posting their own progress, but also a consistent source of encouragement and support to the other members of YFS. We are forever grateful that they've found their way into our program and into our hearts.

...and it's not only women that make up our group of Ninjas over 50-years-old - many of our male members are also within this age group. You can meet some of them in our Men of Yogi Flight School blog post from last week!

They are living, breathing proof that age is just a number, and that no matter where you are in your life journey, you can achieve things that you never thought imaginable.

Hi! I’m Missy! I’m a 55-year-old retired chef and baker.

I've done Yoga on and off for about 12 years. My first experience was a Yin class in a small room above a restaurant.  The instructor who was in his mid 50's at the time shared his story about yoga and how it has preserved his ability to walk.  He was diagnosed with severe rheumatoid arthritis in his 20's and was told he would be in a wheelchair by his 40's.  Needless to say, he is still going strong deep in his 60's. But, after hearing his history, I was convinced I was doing something good for myself.  Then I  bounced around to different yoga classes and teachers throughout the years.  Taking away a little something interesting with me every time I hit the mat with someone new.  

I joined when an ad for a free 3-day lesson popped up on my FB feed.  I thought, why not, there's no commitment and if I don't show up it's no big deal.  After the 3-day course, I couldn't get it out of my head.

I've reaped so many unexpected benefits from joining this course.  When I signed up I thought I would learn a few poses and move on, but Nathania has pulled things out of me I didn't know were there.  For years I'd watch instructors from the back of the class twist themselves into positions I thought were impossible for me.  I'd sit in awe while at the same time say to myself, "yeah right, that's not happening".  But here I am, doing what I can, and achieving WAY more than I thought I could. I have lots of failures, but I'm having way more successes and fun than I expected.  I also didn't expect the FB community to be so incredible.  They are a real community of generous supporters and sharers.  I find such inspiration from everyone's posts, commitment, and comments. I find it helpful to learn from watching other people and reading the helpful comments. It's been a big part of my success on the mat.   Some days, I feel like I went to a retreat to learn a specific pose because there is so much to look at and study.

I also thought I would be the oldest person in the group.  But no, not by a long shot!  It looks like there are well over 115 50+ members of YFS.  Some in their 60's and one has chimed into the group who is in her 70's. Now THAT's an inspiration. I have realized these past few weeks that age is truly JUST a number.

Why not do this for yourself?  If you don't try, you won't fully know that you can do this.  Because you can!  I was skeptical about my ability when I joined. But Nathania teaches and breaks down the mechanics of the poses so well that it's difficult not to succeed in some way or another. Also, there's no ego here. Just fun exploration.

Hi! I’m Ai-Lean and I’m 50 years old.

I’ve done yoga since early childhood - my mum & her friends would take turns hosting private yoga classes so each week I would be at a different house doing yoga with the mums. In adulthood I’ve enjoyed aerial yoga, acro yoga, yoga on a paddleboard (Boga), power yoga, hot yoga, baby yoga, Inside Flow (dance fusion) yoga, MyMoves (martial arts fusion) yoga, etc - love them all!  Life got in the way and I’d not done much recently until lockdown hit us in March 2020 - a friend organized zoom yoga classes and it helped me stay grounded through an unsettling time. From then I restarted a daily yoga practice, subscribing to multiple yoga apps and zoom classes.  

I became obsessed with handstands in early 2020 during the great Covid lockdown and set myself a goal to handstand before I was 50. 50 came and I still wasn’t handstand-ing but I had gained so much from the journey so I carried on. In my typical overboard fashion, I subscribed to multiple handstand programs. One day, a program I was just about to subscribe to sent an email saying there would be a free yoga hand balancing course. I signed up for the free week and was hooked from the first class. Nathania is the most extraordinary teacher I’ve ever encountered - she makes everything fun and has this rare ability to lift you up and make you fly by the sheer force of her personality. So joining the 8-week program was a no-brainer. I signed up the second she announced it (possibly even before)! 

Arm balancing isn’t something I’d ever aspired to as I wasn’t even aware of all these poses! I learned a basic headstand from a book as a child and could hold a badly formed crow for a nanosecond. I had never heard of lizard, flying pigeon, grasshopper, etc so it’s been super fun discovering new poses every week. 

What I wasn’t expecting is the amount of personal attention on this course - which is what sets it aside from other courses. Nat and her amazing team of Community Ninjas watch over us like concerned parents - making sure we progress but also, incredibly, supporting our pastoral care. As a result, we have a YFS Facebook community that is like no other - everyone is supportive and encouraging, we all cheer each other on and support one another when life gets us down. I’ve gained more from this course and its community than can easily be expressed in words. 

Come join in the fun - don’t think about it just do it! This is literally the best thing that I’ve ever signed up for. Do NOT let age be a factor - I can now do things at 50 that I didn’t even know to dream about when I was 15. 

Hi, my name is Patricia.  

I’m 60 years old and I’ve spent 30+ years in the Medical Diagnostic industry, focusing on molecular diagnostics, and have help positions in support, service, sales, marketing, and as a Vice President.

I started Yoga about 6 years ago and fell in love with it. I am now a registered 200-hour YTT Vinyasa teacher, Gravity yoga certified (restorative), Trapeze Yoga certified, and Breath Coach certified. 

I joined YFS because I wanted to learn advanced poses, expand my teaching portfolio, and honestly because YFS looked so amazing and fun with such a strong community that I wanted to be a part of. I have not been disappointed. 

Some things that I got out of YFS that I wasn’t expected to are the poses: side crow, fallen angel, handstands, 7 different headstands (5 new to me), arm balances (still progress in the works) and so much more we never learned in our training! 

If you’re considering joining our community, I ask you to breathe into this practice and be patient. Trust the instructor - Nathania is one of the best I have practiced under. Trust yourself and most important: if you dream and you believe, it will come!

Hi, my name is Catherine and I’m 51-years-old, in the Military.

I have done yoga on and off since I was five years old. 

I saw an advertisement for YFS on Facebook. The program looked really cool, and I felt like I was up to the challenge. I didn’t even read through the whole advertisement - it looked like a lot of fun, so I decided to jump in.

I wasn’t expecting the supportive community that YFS facilitates. YFS is a lot more than just learning balances. It is about learning life’s lessons. It’s is about becoming the best versions of ourselves, and challenging ourselves to do more, to be more.

I was amazed by the amount of content and the willingness of the instructors to reach out to us to help us improve. Though this is a virtual class, there is more than enough individual attention when we request it. 

If you think you should join YFS, you should. I believe that every situation in life is presented to us because we have something to learn from it. Do not let fear, weight, size, gender, sex, or anything else deter you from becoming the best you can be.

Hi! I’m Yvonne and I’m a 51-year-old Physical Therapist.

I began practicing yoga in 2013. Before YFS, I only have an unstable bound headstand at the wall... some arm balances like fallen angel and a frustrating crow pose.

I joined YFS because I wanted to learn handstand. I now have a handstand practice at the way along with tripod with a pike entry without a wall, pincha, and more arm balances like hurdler pose, lizard, modified grasshopper, 8- angle pose, and a few more. I noticed I am stronger and learning to stack joints has made other poses possible. YFS truly made all impossibilities possible.

For 8 years, I dreamt of doing more inversions and arm balances but couldn’t. It was only through YFS that I began to fly. It has also improved my personal being mentally and emotionally not to mention I healthier now than when I was in my 30s. 

I encourage you to join YFS and unlock all impossibilities that you may be carrying all these years like how I was.

Yogi Flight School is about changing the way we live our lives for the better and transforming the stories that dictate how we show up in the world from "I can't," to "I will."

YOU have all of the power you need to do amazing things for yourself and for the world.

To hear from more of our Ninjas, check out our testimonials page.

Big Love,
The Yogi Flight School Team

(P.S. If these Ninjas have inspired you to learn more about what we do and how we do it here at Yogi Flight School, sign up for our FREE training to get a taste of what's waiting for you inside!)