Dee was 63 when she found Yoga-Go on Facebook. She didn't think much of it at first, just something to try for a month. Three years later, at 66, she's still here, and so much has changed along the way.
Before, her body carried arthritis everywhere. Her neck would crack with every turn. She couldn't look side to side, or up and down, without pain. Her arms felt tight, her tendons overlapped, and even simple movements took effort. Bending forward to touch the floor wasn't something Dee could imagine doing.
Dee started with chair yoga on Yoga-Go, and it became her morning ritual, a few quiet minutes with coach Anke before the day begins. "My body sings in the morning while stretching," she says. "I really feel alive while working out with Anke." Over time, Dee added low-impact Pilates and walking alongside her daily chair yoga practice, but those mornings with Anke stayed at the center of it all.
The change didn't happen overnight. It happened one small movement at a time. Today, Dee can turn her head both ways, slowly, but she can. Her palms reach the floor now, legs straight, and she can almost fold all the way forward. Her strength has doubled. Her body has softened and toned at the same time. She's toned up, and her weight has settled somewhere around 62 kilos, down from 68-69 when she started.
She still lives with arthritis throughout her body. Some soreness still lingers in her right arm. Age has taken some of her estrogen, and with it, some ease in building muscle. But none of that has slowed her down. "I won't give up," she says. "It's a ritual and a good addiction for me."
What Dee notices most these days isn't just what her body can do. It's how she feels doing it. Her mood is happier now, and her aches and pains are down to a minimum.
Dee's advice for anyone thinking about starting with Yoga-Go is simple: just fifteen or twenty minutes a day, especially with chair yoga, can bring real results over time, even if you don't feel it right away.
"Thank you for the great work you do for people of all ages and sizes."
"I'm very happy with the progress I've made."
