Benefits of Yoga For Seniors

For most people the thought of yoga brings headstands and backbends, but yoga comes in many different positions and levels. Yoga is much more than intricate postures and can be a great addition to a daily or even weekly routine to improve flexibility and incorporate some low impact exercise into your life. Seniors especially can benefit from yoga due to the many health benefits and ease of modification.

What is yoga?

Yoga utilizes meditation, postures, exercise, and breathing techniques to improve functional mobility and self awareness. Whether you have a regular exercise routine, want to incorporate some new ideas to reduce back pain or gain general flexibility, yoga can be a great addition.

Why try yoga?

You have probably heard the many benefits of yoga such as increased strength and flexibility but what about yoga's relation to overall health? Yoga has been linked to general improvements in health such as reduced risk for strokes, reduced digestive issues, reduced pain and inflammation and reduced risk for anxiety and depression.

Yoga has been used as a treatment to manage arthritis, pain, and even MS (Multiple Sclerosis). Talk to your doctor before incorporating yoga into your life, especially if you have been sedentary or suffer from any chronic conditions. Although yoga can be completed on your own and at home, consider seeking a professional to understand a typical yoga flow and routine.

Many individuals enjoy yoga as it is a low impact activity with room for modifications. There are many types of yoga but beginning with chair yoga or adaptive yoga offer the simplest starting point.

How do I get started?

Let's just start with some basics.

Yoga focuses a lot on your breath. So if you find yourself unable to do certain poses during a class or guided video be sure to simply focus on your breathing. Whether or not the posture can be achieved is not the goal of yoga, the main goal is to connect with your breath.

Always breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth, audibly if possible. Obviously we all breath on our own without having to think about it, but consciously and effectively focusing on your inhale and exhale has been linked to reduced blood pressure and increased autonomic functions.

In addition to focused breathing, yoga also incorporates many alternating postures held for various amounts of time. Start seated in a chair. Place your hands on your knees and lean your shoulders forward, rounding your back. Bring your head forward and down to look at your knees. You are now in a seated "cat position". Next arch your back and stretch your shoulders back pushing your chest out and looking towards the ceiling. You are now in a "cow position".

Repeat this sequence 5-10 times, inhaling through your cow position and exhaling through your cat position. Cat/cow pose increases flexibility and mobility in the spine by increasing circulation between the discs. Cat/cow with focused breathing also encourages coordination and increased lung capacity.

There are many other poses used in yoga but don't let this overwhelm you, poses are generally explained during a yoga session. Check out this youtube video for chair yoga with a focus on breathing techniques and light stretching with modifications.

Although yoga has benefits for all ages, seniors can benefit even more due to the low impact and ability to modify. When considering yoga's balance of ease of activity and numerous health benefits, yoga becomes a simple choice for daily exercise.

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