Bio: Terry Lalley, who will be 70 in January, is a longtime Denver real estate broker with three grown children and three grandchildren. A South Dakota native, he moved to Colorado in 1970 to join the old KLZ Radio as general sales manager but switched careers early on and spent 20 years with Re/Max. Now pursuing a new passion as a yoga instructor, he teaches several classes each week at various fitness clubs, plus one as a volunteer at the Denver Women’s Correctional Facility. Twice divorced, he lives in a 100-year-old house north of Sloan’s Lake with his significant other, Lyn Matthews, who also is a real estate broker.
The Challenge: After 30 years of distance running (including more than a dozen marathons) and mountain climbing (he’s done about 30 fourteeners), Lalley began feeling the adverse impacts in his 50s. “It beat my joints up pretty good,” he says. To lessen the effects, he started mountain biking, only to suffer serious crashes that required rotator-cuff shoulder surgery twice in the past 10 years. These operations, combined with two arthroscopic knee surgeries – and finally, a total knee replacement last November – threatened both to hinder his active lifestyle and sideline his budding career as a yoga teacher.
How He Dealt With It: Under the guidance of Steve Warfell, a physical therapist with Performax, Lalley embarked on a rigorous exercise program to rehabilitate his battered body. “I discovered the thin line between tears and laughter, between a grimace and a smile,” he says. “Oftentimes, people will have surgery but won’t pay attention to the therapist’s recommendations because it’s uncomfortable. But if you don’t, you get locked up with scar tissue and calcium buildup around the site.”
In addition, Lalley continued with his yoga, returning to his teaching schedule just two or three weeks after his knee replacement. “People look at yoga as being external – something to look at, like Cirque de Soleil,” he says. “But almost every pose is addressing the health of the internal organs – keeping the blood flowing and flushing out the toxins. The asanas bring youth to the body.”
Today, Lalley no longer runs, “but hiking and biking are not a problem,” and swimming is especially good, he says, “because it gives my shoulders a full range of motion and gives my knee a lot of flexing with no impact.” At 6 feet tall and 168 pounds, he does cardio workouts two or three times a week, lifts weights just as faithfully and follows a vegetarian diet, although he does eat fish. Says Susan Atkins, a fellow yoga instructor, “He’s still stronger and more flexible than most of his younger students.”
Motivation: “My mission in life is to be of service to others, and to do that I have to stay healthy.”
Best Advice: “I’m encouraging people all the time to not lie down and give up,” Lalley says. “Our body is a gift, and you’ve got to take care of yourself.”
-Jack Cox
