By Harry Cline
Yoga is a holistic practice that combines mental, physical, and spiritual disciplines. Because of its low-impact nature, all ages and skill levels can safely practice yoga. For seniors, the benefits of yoga and meditation can be even greater for their health needs. Seniors and caregivers, here’s why and how to get started with yoga.
Benefits
The benefits of yoga are practically endless. You’ll experience an increase in flexibility, balance, strength, toning, muscle definition, stamina, cardiovascular health, lung capacity, and elevated moods. In turn, you’ll also see a reduction in stress, headaches, anxiety, and depression. It’s no wonder yoga is praised as a magical movement method. Seniors can enjoy the benefits of socialization, stability, stronger bones and joints, better posture, and looser hips. Since seniors are at risk for falls and broken bones, yoga can improve overall health and reduce the risk of illness and injury. Being a low impact exercise, the workout itself comes with less injury, strain, and soreness.
Meditation
You often hear about yoga and meditation in tandem as one discipline. Meditative yoga involves the practice of yoga with meditation, as opposed to yoga for fitness. Meditative yoga spends some time on mental fitness by incorporating mental and breathing exercises during yoga practice. Mindfulness is all about being present and paying attention to your breathing to center yourself.
Meditation is the time to clear your mind and set intentions, remove the negative, and focus on the positive. You can also meditate without practicing yoga to get the benefits of stress reduction, calmness, clarity, and happiness. Guided meditations can help you stay focused on the moment if your mind likes to wander.
Practice
All you need for yoga practice is a mat and a floor. Since yoga doesn’t require any other equipment, it can be done anywhere for free. You can take a class at a gym or senior center to practice with a live teacher in a group setting, but there are also many free videos on YouTube if you’re more inclined to exercise alone at home. There are also downloadable yoga apps for yoga when you’re on the go. Once you get the poses down, you’ll be able to practice them anywhere. Outdoor yoga can invigorate you even more, so roll out your mat at a park or beach and invite some friends to join.
Stretching
Although yoga itself is one big stretch session, it’s always recommended to stretch at the beginning and end of your workout. It’s important to properly warm up beforehand with dynamic stretches and cool down afterward with static stretches. Doing so helps you ease into the workout so you’re not pulling any muscles, and it aids in post-workout repair to prevent soreness.
Stretching at any time of the day also helps to ease tension, stress, pain, and stiffness. Add some stretches into your daily routine to help get the blood flowing and prevent your muscles from feeling sore. They can be done from anywhere at any time with no special equipment or large space needed.
Poses
There are a variety of safe poses for seniors to get started with, including ones that can be done safely in the chair. Tree pose and warrior poses are easy for beginners, as are triangle and bridge pose with the help of a brick. And, of course, you can try the mainstays of yoga: upward dog and downward dog. Both poses help with flexibility and back strength. All poses can be modified for any skill level. The more you practice, the more comfortable they’ll become and the further you’ll be able to push yourself.
There is no downside to doing yoga. Besides improving your back, posture, joints, and bone strength, the fitness and overall health benefits are immeasurable. It’s for the person who’s in pain, the person who struggles with other types of movement, and the person who wants a mental health boost in addition to physical activity. If you’re looking for a spiritual awakening while you’re releasing negative energy through sweat, let yoga heal you and bring you peace.
Photo Credit: Pexels
Harry Cline
Author
Chief Educator
info@newcaregiver.org
Newcaregiver.org
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