Harold and I were high school sweethearts. We married after I graduated high school one year after he did. We both got jobs in Ohio after graduation, and we started our family two years later. We have three wonderful sons who have given us nine grandchildren. Throughout the years we have found that to keep our love alive, we enjoy the good times and work through the hard times. True love stays alive all on its own.
At our age our values haven’t changed, but they are different now. Someone once told me that in order to go forward, we must go back and rediscover those precious values. It’s very important for us to stay healthy and active, and we are finding that yoga helps us do that. We find that we enjoy going to yoga together, which surprised me because the opposite was true when we went to the gym. Harold was always telling me how to do things “correctly.” In yoga class, we have to listen to the awesome instructors who guide and correct us both. We honestly do understand each other better by taking these classes together. We laugh together and are always in a good mood afterward.
We came to yoga because our son surprised us one day with private yoga classes. We were nervous and also reluctant, but when your kids turn into your parents, you listen. Bonnie taught our private class and she made us feel very comfortable. After the classes, Harold decided he would go back to the gym because he said yoga was more for me. I continued for a month or so. My son told his dad to try it again for a longer period of time. He did. Almost a year later, we both still enjoy coming. After every class our bodies feel so much better. That’s why we keep coming back.
What surprised us most about yoga are the poses that look so easy but are not easy when done correctly. I never knew there were so many ways to stretch. Our only regret is not practicing yoga earlier—back when we thought that the more you hurt the better you were doing.
Outside of yoga we have many interests. Harold has every toy imaginable, though I would say that fishing is his favorite. We enjoy boating, riding on our jet ski, swimming, and riding our Goldwing motorcycle. I also teach two-year-old children twice a month at our church. And we love visiting our grandchildren and having them visit us.
To someone just starting out in yoga we would say, do not hesitate! You’re never too young or too old. The Yoga Sanctuary makes you feel at home the minute you walk in and meet Anna’s smiling face. She answers all your questions and the instructors are warm, friendly, and very good at what they do. Going to the gym is fine, but yoga is an added bonus! We all need to work at staying mobile. Harold and I find that yoga helps us do that.