Is yoga a fountain of youth? I think so every time I attend a yoga class with women aged 70 plus who glow with energy and vitality. And I just read an article recently about an 88-year-old yoga teacher from California who still teaches yoga classes at various senior centers several times a week.
Yoga isn’t just for the young, fit, and flexible. Yoga is great for people of all ages, particularly seniors. According to a study by Yoga Journal magazine almost 20 percent of Americans practicing yoga are 55 years old or over. Age is not an excuse for not practicing yoga. What are you waiting for?
More and more yoga teachers and yoga programs are focusing on yoga for seniors. Silver Age yoga trains yoga teachers to work with the senior population. Peggy Cappy, a New Hampshire based yoga teacher with several DVDs to her credit, regularly offers yoga classes where most of her students are over 70.
One of my favorite yoga phrases is, “You are as young as your spine is flexible.” If this is true, how old are you? After more than a decade of yoga, I am much younger than when I first stepped on my yoga mat with herniated discs and sciatica. Many basic yoga exercises help with spinal flexibility including gentle forward bends, back bends, and twists and are often emphasized in gentle yoga for seniors classes.
Yoga is adaptable to all ages and levels. Yoga can be modified to meet individual needs. You can even do yoga sitting in a chair
And it doesn’t take long for seniors to begin experiencing and talking about the positive effects of yoga on their lives. Within just a few sessions students often report increased energy, mobility, and flexibility, improved balance, strength, and posture, diminished pain and an overall feeling of well-being. This sure sounds like the effects of a fountain of youth, doesn’t it?
Yoga can bring more benefits to the well-being of seniors including:
*Decreasing the need for some medications.
*Making day to day activities like reaching a high shelf or getting in and out of the bathtub easier.
*Learning how to take better care of ones needs.
*Creating a sense of community with fellow yoga students.
*Improving the ability to cope with stress and loss that occurs more often as we age
If you are beyond a certain age and ready to give yoga a try seek out classes with names like, “Yoga for Seniors,” “Yoga after 50,” and “Gentle Yoga.” If you can’t find a class or instructor specializing in yoga for older adults there are several yoga books and DVDs that can help. Some of my favorites include:
Lilias! Yoga Gets Better with Age
by Lilias Folan (Book)Yoga for the Rest of Us
by Peggy Cappy (DVD)YogaFit Seniors
featuring June Shaw (DVD)Sitting Fit Anytime
by Susan Winter Ward (DVD)
