Yoga has always been looked upon as being a little “out there” as far as exercise routines go for many. Seniors now seem to be the benefactors of this novel method of exercising to an age old traditional form of achieving spiritual balance and well being. There is no age limit for optimum success with yoga; it offers something for each age group. Yoga is proof that basic physical maintenance of one’s body will aid in regenerating health of a body that has been abused by the years.
A lack of exercise means muscles lose their strength and conditioning, joints become susceptible to inflammation and stiffness. Your body can actually regenerate itself at the basic cellular plateau regardless of prior physical conditioning and yoga can do this for someone. If you are over age fifty and require assistance to exercise, yoga is the ideal. For those who have misused their bodies over the years and now wish to reclaim their health, yoga is a wonderful way to begin again.
When you begin an exercise routine after age fifty there are certain health concerns that should be addressed. Rare is the individual over fifty who does not have one of the following maladies: inflexible joints, bad circulation, arthritis, eyesight problems, hypertension, lower back pain, osteoporosis, breathing problems, problems due to stress, restless sleep patterns, and forms of chronic pain.
Yoga is the right exercise for seniors to combat the effect of physical aging and the health concerns that accompany it. It uses your muscles just enough to aid circulation and get the muscles straining the necessary amounts to alleviate stress and improve breathing. Yoga will aid in reducing osteoporosis and by relieving pressure from knees and feet with different poses will lessen arthritis pain. Many elderly people and those steering toward the second half of their lives find yoga a wonderful method of fighting back at health problems due to age.
Yoga for seniors is already a trendy option for exercise. Some yoga practitioners claim it actually reverses the aging processes and makes a person feel younger than they did prior to doing yoga. If this is the case and yoga does indeed assist a person to live a longer and healthier life, why wouldn’t more seniors participate in this low impact exercise?
Yoga for older people is a great way to protect against age related illnesses, ailments that generally creep up on seniors when they are at their most vulnerable. Yoga for seniors will aid these folks in maintaining resistance to infections and generally make them feel better and healthier like when they were younger.
Senior yoga will aid those practicing it with better recuperation and ability to combat illness. Increasing flexibility and rejuvenating lost health are strong benefits to a new yoga routine. For those people over fifty who practice yoga they will discover when they are in the flow of the routine, it becomes more than exercise but rather an overall mind, body and spiritual experience that benefits seniors and increases flexibility and the ability to recuperate.
Many seniors, specifically these days, are made up of pretty good stuff and have generally lived more vigorous lifestyles than their own parents did. This makes them easily capable of entering into a yoga routine that might otherwise be considered too severe for an older participant.
Senior yoga participants might wish to try the following yoga poses including: laying twist, one-legged downward dog, pigeon, tree, plank, seated twist, shoulder stand, happy baby pose, cobra, cow, tabletop, cat, Warrior I, Warrior II, triangle. Seniors who participate in yoga for a workout are encouraged to push themselves but only after they feel they are ready for the extra challenge. Yoga when done properly will assist seniors to feel more complete mentally and physically and be better prepared to face the many challenges of growing older.
Seniors who are in their 70’s and 80’s whom actively exercise with yoga will be better able to keep an active mind and body. Yoga will enable them to remain more alert, keep more flexible joints and muscles and regardless of their calendar age, they will feel young and healthy.
Tue, Oct 27, 2009
Health And Aging, Lifestyle