Watch Yoga for Older Newbies.

Last week The Globe and Mail dropped by and we put together a video on learning to practice yoga postures. Geared toward beginners and people over 40 there are several modifications offered for each pose. It was shot and edited by Rosa Park, one of their in-house journalists.

I have to say this "over 40 thing" is a bit over-rated and inflated. What I mean by that is yoga can be practiced at any age! Ideally the sooner you start the better, but just because you are 60 does not mean you are a hopeless case. I have 20-year students who can't touch their toes and 60-year old's you can! So go figure.

One student wrote me to comment on the article and video. He said he was very relieved to know he can practice all! Of course, he was being sarcastic. He is 65 and practising Ashtanga-yoga and backbending.

In the West, age is equal to performance, ability and capacity. Many people believe they cannot develop anything past a certain age. Perhaps they are biological facts in place but you can also beat the odds if you try.

For myself, a lot of people perceive my flexibility as being natural. However, as a kid I could not do the splits, sit in lotus or flatten my back. I tried and it did not work. At 27, I started learning yoga seriously and it took me 5 years to be able to do the lotus pose, the splits and many other flexy-bendy postures. I also became much more flexbile in my mid and late 30's than in my 20's. However, it was not just working on my body as it was also meditating and breathing. Mind and body go together; a flexible body does not equal to having knowledge of a posture or even yoga itself. Flexibility is not the goal but a by-product.

What people do not see or understand is that everything takes time, dedication and working out a system for yourself. Nothing comes from a hap-hazard approach. Age is not the issue but attitude.

And those are just the facts.