Eleanor is turning age on its head

A limber Cork granny is on the last leg (literally) of her epic yoga journey to complete a perfect headstand before her 67th birthday.

Eleanor Buckley from Crosshaven says she can now support herself with her hands and just needs to harness the confidence to lift her legs all the way up without help.

Going by her new name Yogini Granny, Eleanor has used her challenge to raise money for housing charity Peter McVerry Trust which plans to open a new office in Cork in the near future.

At the suggestion of her instructor Fabiola at the Sacred Body yoga studio, Eleanor took her campaign to Instagram and Facebook and has so far raised almost €2,000 for the charity.

“I find it socially shameful that we're not looking after people more to achieve their home. My parents wouldn't have achieved their home unless the corporation were involved,” she told the Cork Independent.

Eleanor, who turns 67 on Wednesday, says once she has completed her challenge to achieve the “king of poses”, her next goal might be to master the splits!

“We were at the class and Fabiola put me into a move towards the splits. I looked at her and she looked at me and I said yes, the splits are next!” she said.

Having started yoga in 2018 after her retirement, Eleanor found herself progressing quickly and when lockdown hit, she continued to develop at home.

“When Covid-19 hit, I just kept practicing every day. It was either that or the bottle of wine,” she joked.

Now, Eleanor says even her “conservative” husband has taken up a little bit of yoga and has already seen the benefits.

“It's only in the last six months my husband started doing a bit of yoga and he says he can pick up our dog's poos much better now!”

With a background in nursing, Eleanor is a firm believer that mobility is key to older people living full and independent lives in their own homes for as long as possible.

“I would have been in public health in the community working with older people and the big thing I would have seen in the nursing homes is these very mindfully alert older people, maybe not much older than myself, in nursing homes purely because their mobility came against them,” she said.