‘You’re Never Too Old to Start’
At 78, yoga instructor Sandy Eby is still exercising, teaching—and urging older adults to embrace a practice she discovered by chance decades ago
By Tom and Jerry Caraccioli
When Sandy Eby was in her 50s she was a triathlete participating in events encompassing swimming, biking and running.
But it was a vacation getaway and a chance class offering Hatha yoga, a practice focusing on postures and breathing, that changed her perspective, training regimen and lifestyle.
Eby, now 78, returned from that vacation hooked by the way the practice of yoga made her feel physically and mentally. She then attended class at the world famous Kripalu Yoga Institute in Lenox, Massachusetts, and eventually studied to receive her basic yoga teaching training.
In 2004, Eby returned to Kripalu and was introduced to Bikram hot yoga, a practice that involves 26 poses performed in a studio heated to at least 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Again, she returned from Lenox with a renewed spirit and deeper passion for her yoga practice.
Unfortunately, the nearest Bikram hot yoga practice took place nearly two hours away from her home.
“I did yoga years ago, periodically,” Eby said. “One day I was at Kripalu and Bikram was there signing his book. I said, ‘Who’s that?’ They said, ‘The one that does hot yoga.’ I read his book and wanted to find a Bikram class to start the practice.”
Following those first experiences, Eby found Bikram classes wherever she was, including Ithaca and North Carolina, where her daughter was attending school. As she continued the practice, Eby’s passion grew to the point where her yoga instructors encouraged her work to get certified as a Bikram hot yoga instructor. With the support of her family, she embarked on a new journey that took her to Los Angeles for nine weeks to study and become a certified yogi of Bikram hot yoga. The training included two daily classes of yoga instruction, lectures and classes in anatomy and physiology.
“It was hard, but the instructors always told us to ‘trust the process,’” Eby remembered.
When she returned to Oswego, friends had heard of her new endeavor.
“When I got back, I had some friends ask me if what they heard was true, that I had gone to yoga training,” Eby said. “So, I had a room at the Kingsford House and started doing yoga with some of my friends. I started out with a few classes of about five or six people. After that, we fixed up the top floor of the Kingsford House, started doing yoga and I’ve been doing it ever since. It was 2008 when I actually started my business.”
Today, as the business evolved and Eby opened a new studio in downtown Oswego, her daughter, Judy Sheldon Osetek, 58, became partners after she decided to study and earn her yoga teaching certification on top of working full time as a teacher and administrator in the Oswego City School District. Having been a collegiate soccer player, Osetek found value in her yoga practice not only for healing past aches and pains, but preventing future maladies that can sometimes hamper aging ex-athletes, weekend warriors and regular people. Osetek joined her mother in helping create Blossom Yoga.
The Bikram hot yoga practices 26 poses that aren’t easy for any participant — whether in your 20s, 30s, 40s and beyond. Combined with the necessary heat, the practice can be daunting for beginners, but also exhilarating and addictive as you continue your practice. But Eby is the first to acknowledge the practice is hard but the benefits are immense.
“I see and feel the health benefits in myself,” said Eby, who has been practicing for 22 years. “Usually, when I go to any yoga class, I’m the oldest one there. It speaks for itself. I haven’t been sick — knock on wood — and I’m not on any medications. It’s not only physical but mental. When you finish a class you feel like, wow! It’s a mindset and the hardest part is getting there. Every time you come, you want to come again. You get hooked on it. Your body tells you that it is good for you and you feel good and don’t get sick.”
Blossom Yoga and Wellness combines the philosophical and physical teachings of yoga that empower and inspire students toward personal growth, physical recovery and healing. The practice of Bikram hot yoga strives to bring balance to body, mind, heart and spirit.
Eby offers these wise words to anyone who may think they can’t do yoga because they’re too old, not athletic or not physically fit enough to try.
“I know people my age who are on medications and have other problems,” the septuagenarian business owner said. “I know how I feel. I’m not saying I’m 100%, but yoga has made a huge difference. Health is the most important thing you have. My advice: It’s never too late and you’re never too old to start.”
Tom and Jerry Caraccioli are freelance writers originally from Oswego, who have co-authored three books, mostly about hockey. They also host a monthly television and multi-platform segment on WSYR-Channel 9 (ABC) — “Backroads to Bridge Street with Tom & Jerry.”