Yoga is often practiced by young people looking to maintain
their health and improve their overall fitness level, and many older adults
aren’t familiar with even the basics of yoga. However, that doesn’t mean that
seniors can’t benefit from taking yoga classes or doing yoga on their own.
In fact, yoga has a wide variety of benefits for senior
citizens – maybe even more than for younger participants. While certain types
of yoga may not be ideal for seniors, there are forms that will be beneficial for seniors of all
different levels of health.
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Image courtesy of Shutterstock |
Improved Flexibility
Decreased flexibility is often a common problem for older
adults. While any type of regular exercise like walking, jogging or even
playing a sport like tennis or golf can improve flexibility, yoga is one of the
best activities to immediately improve flexibility over the entire body.
Increased flexibility will decrease the chance of
experiencing a minor or major injury that could result in chronic pain, or
worse, a broken or damaged bone.
Yoga may also be able to improve joint flexibility and
decrease pain associated with arthritis
and other inflammatory conditions like it.
Better Stability
Many injuries that affect seniors aren’t related to serious
accidents – they’re related to minor incidents in the home, such as minor falls or
simply tripping over something. Practicing yoga on a regular basis can help seniors improve overall stability to avoid those falls that can result in very
problematic injuries on the wrong surface.
Sleep Quality
It’s commonly said that seniors need less sleep than their
younger counterparts, but many seniors don’t really feel that way. A lot of
seniors also feel that they have a particularly hard time falling asleep at
night, especially if they’re taking any type of medication that may keep them
awake or are experiencing chronic pain related to another condition.
Yoga may help all individuals that feel they have a hard
time falling asleep, simply because the movements of gentle types of yoga are
often relaxing. Yoga classes also focus on the relaxing aspects of the practice
and may even incorporate meditation, which makes many seniors feel more
grounded and comfortable after sessions.
If you do take up yoga partly to improve your sleep,
consider scheduling classes in the afternoon or evening instead of in the
morning or during the day so you’ll be ready for bed within a few hours of your
class.
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Image courtesy of Shutterstock |
Mental Health
Yoga is known as a relaxing activity, especially if you take
classes that incorporate meditation, and for many seniors that suffer from
anxiety or depression, doing yoga regularly may help to alleviate or manage the
problem.
While some seniors may be hesitant to try yoga with its “new-age”
label, others jump at the chance. Seniors that often balk at trying yoga are
sometimes the ones that benefit the most, as well.
Shannon Lochwood is
a freelance writer and has contributed to several health blogs. She loves
everything about health, mental and physical and loves to encourage people of
all ages to try fun new ways to exercise into their daily routine.
Very Informative Post,Thanks for sharing
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