Senior citizens are sometimes at a disadvantage due to their age and health. They can find it difficult to keep up with their activities of daily living, get around their home, or perform some basic tasks like cooking. Yoga might help them overcome some of these barriers. There are many therapeutic benefits of yoga that can help seniors maintain a healthy lifestyle by overcoming their health issues. Below are 14 health reasons why seniors should give yoga a try.
1.) Yoga Strengthens Muscles
Yoga exercises involve a combination of postures and breathing techniques designed to improve flexibility and strength. Yoga provides a whole body workout that tones and strengthens the muscles, improves balance and coordination, increases bone density, helps relieve stress, and relieves chronic pain.
2.) Yoga Helps Maintain a Healthy Heart
One of the best things about yoga is how it can improve the overall health of your heart, including lowering blood pressure and cholesterol, improving bone strength and flexibility, improving the cardiovascular system, and helping with stress. One of the basic breathing techniques in yoga is pranayama which involves deep breathing exercises and visualization to increase oxygen intake and circulation to the brain. It can also help maintain a healthy heart by strengthening the immune system and stimulating blood flow.
3.) Yoga Helps Maintain a Healthy Bowel
As we age, it can be hard to fight off constipation because of our changing diets and medications. By doing the right yoga moves, you can relieve your bowel problems by improving digestion and boosting metabolism. When you are free from constipation, you will be able to maintain a healthy lifestyle and stay regular.
4.) Yoga is an Anti-Aging Exercise
Yoga can help seniors maintain a healthy lifestyle and prevent the aging process by improving flexibility and strength, helping to maintain a healthy heart and blood pressure, reducing stress, boosting metabolism, helping to relieve pain and anxiety, improving memory and focus, and alleviating depression.
5.) Yoga Increases Mobility
As we age, it becomes difficult to get around and perform simple tasks. It is important for seniors to find an exercise that can improve their mobility and help them keep up with their daily activities. Yoga is a great exercise that can improve balance, strength, and flexibility, which will help you maintain a healthy lifestyle.
6.) Yoga Helps Keep Your Joints Healthy
When you age, your joints become stiff, and it can be difficult to move around. Yoga can help reduce the pain and discomfort in your joints. It is a gentle exercise that will improve flexibility, range of motion, and joint mobility. It also strengthens the muscles that surround your joints. This can help relieve joint pain and improve mobility.
7.) Yoga Helps Prevent Cancer
There is no scientific evidence that proves that yoga can prevent cancer, but some studies have found yoga to be very helpful for people with cancer. It helps to reduce stress, promote relaxation and calmness, and improve blood circulation, which supports healthy living and weight loss. It will also promote detoxification by cleansing the body of toxins as well as boosting energy levels.
8.) Yoga Is a Low-Impact Exercise
Yoga is a low-impact exercise which means you will not be breaking your bones or injuring the joints while performing traditional yoga. It is important to check with your doctor before beginning an exercise program to determine whether it is safe for your body. Senior yoga can help you feel pain-free and improve your balance, strength, and flexibility. These are all important factors for seniors to maintain healthy joints for a longer period of time.
9.) Yoga Can Increase Your Flexibility
As we age, our muscles become less flexible, which can make it difficult to move around or do daily tasks. Yoga is a gentle exercise that improves flexibility by stretching and lengthening your muscles to increase your range of motion.
10.) Yoga Eases Pain
Yoga asana poses and yogic breathing can help manage chronic pain by increasing body awareness, acceptance, and control over pain. Yoga helps release endorphins that block pain signals to the brain. The deep breathing done in yoga brings increased blood and oxygen flow to the organs and muscles. Yoga has been found to be very effective in treating chronic back pain and arthritis.
11.) Yoga Increases Energy Levels
The gentle exercises of yoga will help to reduce stress, anxiety, fatigue, and depression. This is beneficial for seniors because it can help them feel more relaxed and focus on performing their daily tasks. Yoga also helps improve circulation, which can boost energy levels to increase productivity in daily activities.
12.) Yoga Improves Sleep
Yoga has been proven to be very effective in treating insomnia and other sleep disorders. It is a gentle exercise that will help you fall asleep at night without the need for medications. One of the basic poses in yoga is the savasana pose, where you lie down on your back and relax, allowing your body to digest food, cleanse toxins and reduce stress.
13.) Yoga Increases Calorie Burning
Yoga is a gentle exercise that can help you lose fat while increasing muscle mass and improving your metabolism. If you are new to yoga, it is easy to modify any pose so that it is right for your body. Two of the basic asana in yoga are Tadasana and breathing exercises pranayama, which can be practiced daily to boost metabolism, improve digestion, increase energy levels, and reduce stress.
14.) Yoga Relieves Asthma
Yoga can help seniors who suffer from asthma by improving breathing techniques which will help with lung capacity and circulation. It will also relieve some of the symptoms of asthma like nausea, insomnia, anxiety, and stress which are common for those with the condition. Yoga will also help you relax your body and calm your mind to relieve tension in the chest that causes asthma attacks.
Conclusion
Senior yoga can help you stay agile, active, and healthy for a longer period of time. It is important to find an instructor who is knowledgeable about seniors and how to modify poses to make them safe for the joints and body. It is also important to consult with your doctor before starting an exercise program like yoga. You may have some health problems that may prevent you from performing a certain pose or exercise. Yoga can be practiced at home or in a class, so you have the option of deciding which one will work best for you.