How to age well: tennis, dancing, massage and meditation keep Malaysian grandma happy and active at 78

Marguerite Brodie became a salsa dance champion and avid tennis player, learned the healing art of Rolfing and ‘by chance’ took up Buddhism and Dharma practice

Dharma, the application of Buddha’s teachings to one’s life, has taught Brodie patience and ‘the reassurance that everything will happen at the right time’

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Marguerite Brodie with her dogs Kermit and Moe in Kuala Lumpur. Thanks to decades of dancing and tennis, Rolfing and daily Dharma practice, she stays fit and healthy. Photo: Lise Floris

Lise Poulsen Floris

Published: 3:15pm, 29 May 2022

One of the striking things about Marguerite Brodie is her posture.

At 78, she carries herself with admirable strength and grace, and it’s the result of decades of dancing and tennis, combined with Rolfing (a holistic method of manipulating the body’s fascia, or connective tissue) and Dharma practice (applying Buddha’s teachings in her daily life).

From her home in Kuala Lumpur, the grandmother of six reflects on how these elements came to gradually shape her life after tragedy struck in 1984.

The daughter of Eurasian parents with Chinese Hakka and British-Scottish roots, Brodie grew up on the island of Penang in Malaysia. She met her Malaysian Chinese husband in Kuala Lumpur in 1966 and they had five children together. When the youngest was a newborn, Brodie’s husband was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer.

Brodie in her Rolfing room in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Photo: Lise Floris

As a devotee of Indian spiritual leader guru Sai Baba, he wanted to avoid an operation or any type of conventional medical treatment.