Is yoga appropriate for elderly?

Yoga has been said to be one of the best forms of exercise for older adults. With time and with the right classes, older people can improve their flexibility and balance, increase their strength and improve their mood. In most cases, older people can do yoga without a doubt. Many people with hectic schedules only find time for activities like yoga when they retire.

Although the tendency is to become more sedentary, retirement is the perfect time to acquire healthy habits that can promote longevity. Yoga is a great option because it doesn't require specialized equipment and can be done anywhere. Matthews says that his yoga classes are full of people of all ages and skill levels, and that he has seen more older adults adopt the practice in recent years. Applications are now open for the AARP Purpose Award, which honors people age 50 and older who take advantage of life's experience to build a better future.

Yoga has been proven to relieve stress, is great for bone health and can help increase willpower. In English l Thirty-eight years ago, cardiologist Dean Ornish, MD. Since then, research on the health benefits of yoga, especially its effect on adults over 50, has exploded. Here's a brief guide to the benefits of yoga (and some poses you can do) at 50, 60, 70 years old and beyond.

The slow, measured movements and strengthening poses in yoga can help you achieve better balance and prevent falls as you age. Falls are the leading cause of injury among older adults; every 11 seconds, an older adult visits the emergency room for treatment related to a fall, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Yoga gives you the tools now to prevent a bad fall, so you can keep moving at age 80. Yoga tones muscles and works on proprioception, the sense of position in space.

Practicing poses that emphasize standing and maintaining balance can also help build strength and confidence. About 80 percent of proprioception occurs in the ankles, so standing poses are important, especially for people in their 70s, Payne explains. As you become more sedentary, your sense of balance atrophies. You can save on eye exams, prescriptions, hearing aids and more.

Yoga's combination of breathing, meditation, and movement creates an overall sense of well-being. In fact, studies show that yoga has a greater impact on improving mood and reducing anxiety than other forms of exercise. The reason? Yoga increases levels of the brain chemical GABA, which helps calm nerves. Lie on your back, with a pillow under your head, with your eyes closed.

Let your feet extend to the sides. Rest your arms along your body, with your palms facing up. Then relax, surrender to the floor and take a deep breath. Your email address is now confirmed.

You'll start getting the latest news, benefits, events and programs related to AARP's mission to empower people to choose how to live as they age. Javascript must be enabled to use this site. Please enable Javascript in your browser and try again. Whether in a yoga studio, community center, or at home, yoga is a great way to build your endurance gently while encouraging a connection between mind and body.

Check local senior centers, retirement communities, religious organizations, and even health clubs to see if they offer yoga classes for seniors. A mix between two of the best-known yoga poses, the dog's face down pose and the child's pose, the extended puppy pose offers the benefits of lengthening the spine without the discomfort that some people feel in the knees and hips in the other poses, Matthews says. If you have arthritis, limited mobility or other health problems, he says, there's a modification in almost every yoga pose to suit your physical needs. Several well-designed studies provide data showing that the practice of yoga has positive effects on cellular aging, mobility, balance, mental health and the prevention of cognitive decline, all areas of concern for older adults.

Taken together, these findings suggest that yoga may be useful in mitigating neurodegenerative and age-related declines in older adults. Practicing yoga regularly can help lubricate joints, preventing debilitating disorders such as carpal tunnel syndrome and arthritis. Because the cost of implementing yoga-based interventions, both in the community and at home, is low, policy makers also consider the practice of yoga to be a cost-effective way to reduce medical costs and improve outcomes in a growing aging population. Studies consistently show that the activity of yoga, which involves weight bearing, helps delay bone thinning and reduce the risk of osteoporosis, especially among postmenopausal women.

It reveals a surprising variety of yoga programs and levels of difficulty that provide opportunities for almost anyone to participate and gain health benefits from the practice. However, according to the National Institute on Aging at the NIH, researchers are studying how to improve the health of older adults through a gentle and safe practice of yoga. Viniyoga and Kripalu, who make sure to adapt the practice to each individual, are also excellent options. Yoga induces the relaxation response, an alpha state between wakefulness and sleep that helps modulate the way the body responds to stress.

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