One of the most common questions about yoga is what age you need to be in order to do it. The truth is that people of all ages, from infants to the elderly, and all levels of fitness, including having arthritis, or being pregnant, can do yoga provide that they put safety first and don’t try to overdo things.
Yoga is a great way to keep fit because it uses your own body weight to tone and trim. It builds long, lean muscle, which boosts the metabolism, which in turn helps yoga practitioners lose weight.
Older people tend to steer clear of yoga due to the mistaken impression that you have to be as skinny as a rail and as flexible as a rubber band. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, if you are a senior, you owe it to yourself to start developing a yoga practice sooner rather than later.
This is because yoga offers many benefits in relation to exactly the kind of health challenges that seniors face. These include:
- A lack of strength
- A lack of stability/being sure-footed
- Feeling stiff and achy
- Their aches and pains making them reluctant to exercise
- Being overweight
- Feeling tired a lot of the time
- Feeling a bit down
- Not enjoying the same social activities they used to
- Being worried about their health
- Sleep disorders such as insomnia
- Suffering stress
- Struggling with chronic health issues, such as heart problem, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol
Yoga improves strength, and stronger muscles mean more stability. Yoga improves range of motion, for less stiffness. Less stiffness means more willingness to move around, which in turn burns calories. Burning more calories means faster weight loss, especially if they also watch what they eat. The muscles yoga builds also boost your metabolism, for even further weight loss.
Any exercise can burn calories, but yoga also offers rejuvenation in mind and spirit. It is a mood enhancer, and attending classes leads to more socializing and less isolation. Yoga will give anyone who practices it more energy and reduce anxiety due to greater concentration and less needless worrying, especially at night.
A better quality of sleep means waking refreshed and rejuvenated, and ready to power through your day. This will mean less stress, which can help anyone with chronic health issues be able to take care of themselves better.
Yoga lowers blood pressure and cholesterol and reduces pain. This is idea for anyone with arthritis or osteoporosis, so if you or anyone you know is struggling with these and other common senior health issues, try yoga and see what a difference it can make in your life.
