Yoga can also be beneficial for your heart and overall health, assist with weight loss and help with chronic conditions such as arthritis and osteoporosis. Yoga also keeps us in tuned with ourselves and a feeling of connection with our own bodies.
Many of these benefits can be especially beneficial to seniors. However, many seniors may feel that the down-ward dog is for the limber 20, 30 and 40 years-old. Again, this assumption is false. Yoga can be adapted for people of any age including seniors. One of the ways to adapt this practice for seniors who may be less mobile is moving it off the yoga mat into a chair. This form of yoga is called chair yoga. Chair yoga is a great way to loosen stiff older muscles and joints that stiffen as we age. Chair yoga can lessen the effects of the aging process by helping with muscle softness and flexibility and promoting muscle elasticity and keeping the mind sharp and spirit and energy relaxed.
Other benefits:
• Improve mobility and strength
• Improve balance and overall stability
• Improve sleep
• Improve blood flow
• Improve cardiovascular health
• Lower blood pressure
• Improve mood
• Aid digestion
• Help with recuperating from surgery
• Assist with anxiety and anxiety related to grief
Overall, yoga can keep the all-important trinity of mind, body and spirit, in perfect harmony reducing the effects of aging.
How to get started?
If you are a senior and would like to get started with chair yoga, your regimen does not have to include daily practice. You can get started with dedicating 2 to 3 times per week. Usually, there are several classes available to get you started at local yoga studios as well as senior centers.
