With age comes wisdom, but it doesn’t mean you have to give up on being youthful. Yoga and meditation are some tremendous anti-aging tools and can significantly improve both your mental and physical health. We bring you a list of great yoga poses and their benefits –
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Age and Yoga
One goes through several changes as they age, both physically and psychologically. Loss of flexibility, slow metabolism, tiredness, low endurance, weak memory, and immunity are all just a part of the process and may leave a feeling of vulnerability at times.
Aging is still a beautiful process, despite how terrible it may sound. Growing old comes with lower stress levels, meaning more happiness and many values that add to life.
Furthermore, many of these factors actually depend on the lifestyle we maintain and can be significantly reduced with simple everyday exercises and efforts. The passing time doesn’t have anything to do with you losing your youth. Studies around the world advocate yoga and meditation. Regular yoga practice helps your muscles maintain their mass while also releasing hormones that slow the aging process. Below are some yoga poses you must introduce in your routine –
Chronic Pain
Pain that may persist for more than 3-6 months is referred to as chronic pain. The pain can result from health issues like arthritis, OA, or an injury, etc. It’s both mentally and physically challenging to cope with; hence a set of yoga poses, including breathing and therapeutic exercise, can significantly help you modulate the pain.
Arthritis
This regular pain in joints like elbows, wrists, and knees can make daily chores feel like a task as they leave you stiff, aching, and uncomfortable in movements.
Poses – side angle pose, seated spinal twist, cobra pose, hero pose, cow face pose, tree pose
Benefits – reduces tension in muscles, increases flexibility, body balance, enhances respiratory endurance, improves mental strength and positivity.
Spinal Stenosis
This numbing and radiating pain affecting the legs, hips, and shoulders is caused due to narrowing the spinal canal or vertebral openings.
Poses – child’s pose, cat/cow pose, plank pose, downward dog, forward fold to mountain, warrior, seal pose.
Benefits – safe and slow folds and side bending can reduce pain, build posture and strength.
Disc issues
Spasms, radiating pain, and limited movement in the lower lumbar region and around the spine
For Herniated disc Poses – camel pose, locust pose, cobra pose.
For bulging disc Poses – bridge pose, easy bow pose, triangle pose, easy cobra pose, crocodile pose, locust pose, corpse pose.
For degenerative disc Poses – child’s pose, downward-facing dog, cat/cow pose.
Benefits – core strength, flexibility, and long term relief.
Osteoporosis/Osteopenia
Decreasing bone density making them susceptible to fractures.
Poses – tree pose, triangle pose, warrior pose, side-angle pose, revolved pose, camel pose.
Benefits – a marginal increase in bone density, build muscle, body balance, and awareness.
Mental Health
Anxiety, loss of a self-care routine, memory loss, mood swings, extreme fatigue, irregular sleep patterns, etc., can all be an indicator of deteriorating mental health in the elderly.
Poses- the high lunge, eagle pose, dancer’s pose, warrior, vajrasana, padmasana, tree pose, corpse pose, circle pose.
Benefits – Calms the mind, helps focus, improves mood and tolerance.
Weight Loss
Poses – warrior III, downward facing dog split, boat pose, plank, warrior II, bridge, superman, bow pose, table arm leg lift, chair pose.
Benefits- improves posture, helps lose weight, flexibility, activeness.
Blood Pressure
Blood pressure is prevalent among adults. It causes arteries to narrow down, making your heart work harder and grow weaker, leading to heart diseases. Headache, anxiety, shortness of breath, nosebleeds are all symptoms of high blood pressure.
Poses – child pose, diamond pose, forward bend pose, corpse pose, easy pose, butterfly pose, sitting half spinal twist, one-legged forward bend, hero pose, half plow pose, bridge pose.
Benefits – deep and continuous breathing helps in controlling BP naturally and relieves stress. Soothe nerves, regularize sleep habits, improve diet, and release positive energy.
Peripheral Nerve Issues
Injured nerves can often cause tingling, weakness, numbness, pain, and cramping in limbs, hands, feet, fingers, and toes. The cause may also be a side-effect of certain underlying illnesses like carpal tunnel syndrome, etc.
Poses – triangle pose, camel pose, inversion pose, chair pose, hand and feet movement.
Benefits – helps with body stress, good blood circulation, and movement.
Meditation
Meditating is a great way to look and feel young. It releases stress, calms your body and mind, regulates your breathing, improves blood circulation, and helps you focus better. Most of the aging is backed by high-stress levels, and that’s why many people start maturing before age.
Meditating also helps prevent wrinkles, increase collagen, makes your hair healthy and strong to maintain a youthful glow.
Meditation techniques to try – mindful breathing, Vipassana, General mindfulness, Zen, Tai chi, Qigong, mantras, and mudras
Conclusion
Celebrating each passing year and being thankful for the experience, self-confidence, wisdom, and warmth are ways to live. But, it is equally essential to keep one’s health in check, both mental and physical, and put in a little more effort to maintain good shape as we grow old. Regular yoga practice improves your overall health, and the range of motion keeps you active. Several instructors and yoga classes are also available today, helping you understand the practice even better. All this while keeping in mind that aging is still a magnificent journey one must enjoy.
