NEW WORK:: GRAY: Picture1

Maria Luisa Basualdo, Yoga instructor, 52.“Gray is your history, it is who you are. It is an issue of beauty and an issue of looking young. Old age can be beautiful and it is worthy of respect. It shows you have experience and a history. But it is not always respected. Now everyone wants a young, thin, model instead of an experienced trained yoga instructor. In the past, I was told I was ‘lucky’ to have a job because {this gym} doesn’t hire “older people.” I have been teaching and learning yoga since I was 25 years old. I have years and years of experience. But gyms want to see young people. I know instructors who dye their hair and even get plastic surgery to keep looking young and keep feeling secure in their jobs. I don’t want that. I can’t do that. This is who I am and this is who I will be.”

Maria Luisa Basualdo, Yoga instructor, 52. 

“Gray is your history, it is who you are. It is an issue of beauty and an issue of looking young. Old age can be beautiful and it is worthy of respect. It shows you have experience and a history. But it is not always respected. Now everyone wants a young, thin, model instead of an experienced trained yoga instructor. In the past, I was told I was ‘lucky’ to have a job because {this gym} doesn’t hire “older people.” I have been teaching and learning yoga since I was 25 years old. I have years and years of experience. But gyms want to see young people. I know instructors who dye their hair and even get plastic surgery to keep looking young and keep feeling secure in their jobs. I don’t want that. I can’t do that. This is who I am and this is who I will be.”