The Secret To Living Your Best Life At Any Age
by Marg Coad – Yoga Teacher at Crusoeden Body
A common reaction to many of life’s changes, including getting older, is to stop moving. Yet, one of the best ways to maintain vitality and slowdown age-related decline is to continue to move. Yoga, one of the gentlest forms of movement, helps both our body and our mind at any age. Living in a time where diet, medicine and lifestyle advances have improved life expectancy, physical activity is key to successful ageing. Research shows that yoga, when practised correctly, can have numerous benefits for seniors. Yoga poses can help with the following:
- Strengthen muscles
- Enhance flexibility and joint health
- Improve posture
- Help lower high blood pressure and help type 2 diabetes
- Relieve pain from arthritis and osteoarthritis
- Boost balance and stability
- Increase our ability to function
- Enhance our mood.
There are different classes such as chair yoga and restorative yoga, suitable for all ages. Chair yoga is done sitting on a chair or fully supported by a chair, whilst restorative yoga is fully supported by props such as bolsters and cushions and is a passive form of yoga. The benefits of regular, moderate physical activity improve heart health, lungs, muscles and bones. It also can help in managing stress, uplifting the mood, improving sleep patterns, preventing or delaying many diseases and disabilities, and improving brain health.
We have lifetime habits of pushing ourselves, stressful jobs and extreme challenges, and it is when we get older where we need to pause and listen to our bodies and be grateful for the body we have been given. Yoga gives us the tools to pause, listen deeply and be present physically, mentally and emotionally in each moment. We are reminded to be grateful for the gift of breath and to connect to our deepest selves. We learn how to treat ourselves with kindness, to let go of judgement and to love ourselves as we are, which can have a profound impact on our well-being. This can then improve our relationships with others around us. Yoga is not only a form of movement but is also a practice of self-awareness.