If your loved ones are looking to try new hobbies or are interested in improving their calmness and awareness, yoga is a great activity for them to consider.
Seasons Retirement is a retirement community where your loved ones can engage in living to the fullest. We encourage older persons to remain active by offering simple exercises and yoga practice through classes, with a dedicated space for training.
Yoga, in particular, is one of the best types of exercise for older adults. The benefits of yoga for seniors with regular practice are: enhanced flexibility, improved focus, concentration, ability to sleep better, and more.
In this guide, we’ll go over how senior yoga practice can be used to improve concentration and quality of life, and we’ll also cover some of the additional benefits of gentle yoga.
Yoga comprises a series of movements, poses, and stretches that originated in India. It’s a practice initially believed to be a ritual in Hinduism. It’s proven to cover numerous benefits for physical health and mental wellness.
Yoga offers physical and psychological benefits that can help improve balance, reduce joint stress, and improve mood. It’s also great as a strategy to help prevent arthritis in older adults, which adds to its overall value as a fitness activity.
Let’s go over some of the most significant benefits of yoga for seniors.
Flexibility is an essential part of maintaining a full and satisfying range of motion, which should ideally be included in your exercise routines.
Working on flexibility directly ties to living an independent lifestyle if your loved one experiences some limitations with movement and speed. Yoga exercises offer movements and stretches that are fantastic for helping bones and muscles stay limber and preserve full movement.
However, it’s important to pay attention to any signs of pain or discomfort during any yoga poses or stretches and stop if necessary. It’s best to gradually implement a yoga routine and start with more straightforward, more accessible activities that can be progressively intensified. Gentle yoga for seniors may be an ideal choice for those just starting.
Yoga centers on deep relaxation and concentration, which helps regulate how the body reacts to stress. Stress and tension can cause muscles to tense and clench up, leading to increased heart rate.
Yoga works to de-stress and relieve muscle tension while decreasing the heart rate to lower blood pressure and improve respiration.
Yoga improves discipline and strengthens concentration. With a daily senior yoga routine, it’s easier to burn extra calories and stay focused on well-being.
A BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine Review reported that older people with diabetes who practiced senior yoga 3-6 days per week for eight weeks lost more weight than those who walked for the same length of time.
Yoga and meditation are almost synonymous. With constant senior gentle yoga practice over an extended period, it’s easy to achieve a heightened sense of mindfulness and awareness.
One benefit of gentle yoga for seniors is that it helps adults feel more connected and empowered. These positive emotions can contribute to better sleep quality and promote confidence and self-esteem.
According to yoga principles, breathing exercises like alternate-nostril breathing can also be used to harmonize the left and right hemispheres of the brain, which connects to the logical and emotional sides of the personality.
Yoga poses, such as the standing bow pulling pose or tree pose, work wonders to improve a person’s sense of balance and boost their confidence.
Yoga practitioners often experience enhanced focus, better stability, and an overall improvement in their sense of balance.
As an alternative to strenuous weight training or strength building in the gym, yoga can be a great way to strengthen inactive muscles within the body.
Yoga has a wide range of practice with different poses and exercises that can help build muscle.
With regular exercise, the main muscles of the shoulders, neck, hips, legs, abdominal, spine, and pectorals are enhanced, promoting fitness and allowing older adults to engage in physical activity with more ease.
Yoga can be a drug-free alternative approach to lowering high blood pressure. According to a study, a significant reduction in blood pressure can be achieved by incorporating three essential elements of yoga practice—posture, meditation, and breathing.
The slow, controlled breathing innate in yoga practice has also been shown to help control the nervous system activities, which manages the blood pressure levels.
Senior yoga practices such as yin yoga can nourish and lubricate the joints.
The weight-bearing activity of yoga can be a very effective way to prevent conditions such as osteoporosis.
If your loved one has never tried yoga before, now may be an excellent time to introduce them to the benefits of yoga for seniors.
At Seasons Retirement, we are passionate about enabling older adults to lead healthy, happy, and independent lives. Thus, we provide various avenues and opportunities to ensure each resident has their unique needs adequately met.
Please remember to consult your physician for personalized medical advice before starting a new diet or fitness routine.