|
|
|
| |
| |
Yoga & Aging
Yoga helps people age well, and older adults are increasingly drawn to the practice as a growing body of research suggests it has powerful health benefits for body and mind. These include reducing the risk of age-related disorders such as cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome, as well as improving blood pressure, heart rate and insulin resistance and relieving anxiety, depression, and chronic pain. One study even described improvements in biological markers of aging, suggesting that yoga and meditation “may hold the key to delay aging or aging gracefully.”
Yet, even though more than a third of Americans who practice yoga are age 50 or older, media images typically portray yoga practitioners as slim, bendy youngsters.
As yoga therapists who have spent more than two decades specializing in making yoga safe and accessible for older adults, we often hear seniors wistfully say, “I’m not flexible enough to do yoga” and mistakenly assume that yoga isn’t for them. We’re quick to assure them that they don’t have to touch their toes, sit cross-legged on the floor or even get out of bed to practice yoga and reap its many rewards. In fact, the only thing you need to be able to do to practice yoga is breathe.
Of all age groups, seniors are the most complex and varied, with some able to run marathons and others unable to get out of bed. Approximately 85 percent of older adults have at least one chronic health condition and 60 percent have at least two. The average 75-year-old in America has three chronic conditions and takes five medications—many of which may have side effects, such as dizziness, that can affect yoga practice. |
| | | |
| |
|