When Sharon McAllister’s daughter became a yoga instructor, she gushed so much about it that McAllister herself became intrigued. She had been a hairdresser for decades, but this year, at age 65, she joined four strangers on a 250-hour intense yoga-teaching course in Spain. “I asked myself, ‘What do I want to do for the remainder of my life?’ What do I have to offer?
“Am I destined to become just another invisible elderly lady, or can I contribute in some way?” She has already taught 10 classes as a substitute teacher in Essex, where she resides.
Her instructor informed her, “You bring your unique abilities.” While she is still refining her particular teaching technique, she has seen that the way she concludes her courses – with an assisted savasana, or corpse posture, in which she adjusts her students’ feet, arms, heads, necks, and shoulders – is quite popular.
“As a hairdresser, I am accustomed to touching people. It feels natural to exchange energies through touch with other people, something I have to offer.
As a child, McAllister’s father encouraged her to pursue a profession in cosmetology. His father had instructed him in the barbering trade. A family photograph from the 1920s depicts McAllister’s grandfather in the family salon.
As a child, McAllister “was always patted on the head rather condescendingly and told, ‘I expect you will join the family business I would grin at them with clenched teeth and think, ‘No, I bloody won’t!’ But I did. And I was quite appreciative.”
McAllister realized while pursuing a degree in fashion and textile design that it was not the road for her. She states, “I wanted to go off on my own.” She asked her father to train her, and at the age of 22 and with a capital of £1,000, she launched her salon, Buddies.
“The decade was the 1970s. Vidal Sassoon was my idol. On him, I had written my dissertation. “In the little hamlet of Brightlingsea, I had delusions of grandeur,” she adds. She wore her hair in a strawberry blonde pixie cut, and furnished the salon in cream and brown, with cork tiles on the walls and spider plants hanging from macramé. “It was warmly received. There were no unisex salons available at the time. It was pretty innovative.”
McAllister enjoyed traveling to London. “Coloring courses, advanced styling… In those days, you could enroll at the Vidal Sassoon or Wella school.” When her father retired, she took over his salon and subsequently purchased a third.
In the 1970s, her brother was a competitive hairdresser who won international championships. McAllister was more concerned with maintaining the happiness of his neighbors. It has been such an honor to be a hairdresser my entire life. You meet the most incredible individuals. You have the best talks ever.”
However, three salons were excessive. She abandoned two leases. Then, in 2008, she fractured her arm after falling. “I was unable to hold a comb or scissors. The salon had to be closed for three months. That’s a lengthy span between haircuts.”
On her return, she was 53 years old. “It was an alternate universe. I was beginning over. I discovered that my age worked against me. People anticipate hairdressers to be younger. And I desired to engage in other activities.”
In addition to yoga, these “other things” have included a course in vegan cooking. She plans to research sound treatment next. She may still operate retreats. “I could also prepare the food. As your confidence grows, you believe, “I could take this a step farther.”
“I like to believe that after I conclude a yoga session, students leave feeling happy, content, delighted, and relaxed,” she continues. “I wanted clients to leave my salon with the same emotions.
In return, I’ve been able to keep my brain engaged, and my body supple. Physically, emotionally, cognitively, and psychologically, it has been a phenomenal experience.” As she says of the hairdressing courses she took decades ago, “the experience of learning is everything.”
