85-Year-Old Yoga Student Believes Activity Leads to Long Life

Most birthday girls celebrate with cake, hats and a party. Eighty-five-year-old Audrey Leemann certainly did that—and more. Her husband, four children, their spouses and 10 grandchildren surprised her with a party at her Tuesday night yoga class at . Leemann has been a class regular for almost 10 years.

Leemann said she was certainly surprised an overwhelmed with the love at the yoga class, and she looked back on her first class, remembering how intimidated she was to try yoga.

“I wanted to get into something and I tried to do some exercises while I was at home,” Leemann said. “My youngest daughter had started yoga at Whitecliff and said, ‘Mom, I think you’d really like it.’”

Leemann has felt several benefits since beginning the night class when she was in her mid 70s. It has settled her nerves, helped lower stress and relieved headaches.

“If you have a headache, you tell the teacher and she plays around on those parts that might be aching,” Leemann said. “I read in a magazine that yoga even helps reach different organs, which helps them work better.”

The entire Leemann family has been active since moving to Crestwood in 1970. Leemann and her husband enjoy walking, and she jogged with her son, jitterbugged and rode tricycles when she was younger. 

“We walked everywhere or rode bicycles. I remember riding a three-wheeler. You could stand on a three-wheel tricycle and we would take turns pumping and the other one would stand on the back and hold on,” she said. “Now that everybody moved to the suburbs you have to drive your kids everywhere. I think that has a lot to do with why we have so many obese children.”

The former sketch artist for Famous Barr also enjoys knitting, sewing, and she recently took a watercolor class at the Missouri Botanical Garden. She says that she will miss walking in the former if it does become an outdoor facility.

“We are very disappointed that they are going to open it up,” she said. “When we moved here the retail stores were just on one side of the street, you had to put your coats on again. We were happy that they made it larger and enclosed the mall so you can walk it. There are still a lot of elderly people who live in Crestwood.”

After being married for 63 years, Leemann said that in addition to give and take, good food is a secret to a happy marriage. Losing so many family members to cancer, she learned a lot about cholesterol and went on a regimen of eating more non-fatting foods and olive oil. Leemann grew up on a farm, and said that young people today are lucky to be armed with all the vegetables like kale and cauliflower, which were unheard of in her childhood.

Yoga class sizes vary at Whitecliff and there are mixed skill levels and ages in each class. The only time Leemann misses a class is when one of her grandchildren has something at school. Her son, who is running in a marathon, even joins her from time-to-time. In addition to the health benefits, she enjoys the camaraderie with the other students. 

“You can do whatever you are capable of doing at different levels. You can do advanced positions or do whatever you can do that day,” she said. “They always tell you to do it at your own speed. You know what you can handle. Some of those ladies can stand on their head—of course at my age I don’t try that.”