The spry nonagenarian yogis are coming out of the woodwork! Meet Esther Vexler, “the grandmother of yoga in San Antonio.”
Inspiration is everywhere, if you just look for it. We’re inspired today by 94-year-old Esther who discovered yoga in the 1950s in Mexico City and began teaching it to San Antonians in the 1960s.
She still teaches several yoga classes a week, including one for kids, and imparts to her students not only her yoga knowledge, but priceless life lessons.
Says student Mary Thompson, 48,
“She makes 94 look good. In your 40s you feel limited, like you can’t keep up. But you see a 94-year-old do yoga, and you realize the limits are all in your head.”
Esther explains her approach to yoga and self-discovery, even as you grow older.
“I think of yoga as self-discovery,” she says. “Part of it is the self-discovery involved in getting acquainted with your body, mind and spirit. You discover your weaknesses as well as your strengths. I’m learning to do what I’m able to do. You have to face the facts. Certain things you won’t be able to do. I have to keep reminding myself that I am almost 95.”
“If you treat your body with a lot of TLC, what you put into it, how you use it, you’ll notice it works better for you.”
xoxo.
Next time you’re in town stop by the Esther Vexler Yoga School, a nonprofit hatha yoga school founded in 2007 to train yoga teachers, honoring San Antonio’s yoga pioneer.
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Earlier…
- 91-Year-Old Mabes Morrill Teaches Yoga on TODAY Show (video)
- Guinness Book’s ‘World’s Oldest Yoga Teacher’ at 93, Tao Porchon-Lynch
- ‘Yoga Injuries: Facts and Fiction’ – Free Telesummit to Answer Your Questions
- Go With Your Flow: Yoga On Your Period – To Invert or Not to Invert?
- YogaDork Ed: Going Deeper Into a Pose? Or Going Off the Deep End?
Thanks, YD, for the morning inspiration. I’m preparing for retirement from the world of the W2. And Esther is a reality check for when I think I’m too old for something. I plan to teach yoga until I leave my body, and when doubt arises I can just quit whining and think of Esther. And… San Antonio is my home town!
More of the same extreme trope:
http://www.elephantjournal.com/2012/01/naked-ninety/
But it’s great she’s an inspiration …
Esther is a true inspiration for all who know her and are blessed to take a class with her. She is still teaching twice a week at the studio, and continues to inspire everyBody with her grace, charm and peaceful spirit!
She has the longevity to show what she doing is working for her. Good for her!