As you age, you may notice your body changing, but that shouldn’t stop you from enjoying this healthy activity.
Yoga is one of the many optional activities offered at Amica residences to help residents feel rejuvenated and to promote longevity.
“Yoga helps train many components of fitness: flexibility, core strength, muscular strength and endurance, and balance,” explains Renée Welch, a certified personal trainer and Life Enrichment Coordinator at Amica Senior Lifestyles.
“By incorporating Yoga classes into their lifestyle, seniors can maintain, and in some cases even improve one or more of these components.”
Welch says there are even different types of yoga specifically designed for seniors, including yoga for arthritis, osteoporosis, sciatica, depression and anxiety. Here’s how yoga can help seniors.
Low-impact exercise
Yoga is a perfect practice for seniors to continue or start in because it is low impact. Don’t be fooled by its gentle poses into thinking it’s not much of a workout. It goes through motions and poses slower, which builds your strength resistance and promotes flexibility. It also improves your balance as you hold poses longer. “Always make sure the spine is stabilized, and breathe continuously throughout the exercises,” says Welch. “You’d be surprised how many people subconsciously hold their breath when attempting an unfamiliar movement.”
Emotional wellness
Yoga can do wonders for your emotional wellness as well. “Not only does it keep minds and bodies in shape, it also helps relieve tension, reduces stress, allows for better sleep, and gives a person more energy,” says Welch.
Yoga can help create and maintain a positive, realistic self-concept and enthusiasm about life, which is essential for emotional wellness. As a result, yoga can contribute to your personal happiness and relationships with others.
Good for the soul
Yoga is one of the best activities to help maintain spiritual wellness because it is also a meditative practice. It allows you to give yourself a moment to reflect or take a step back. It’s about listening to your body and pushing its limits, then pulling back to comfort it. Attending yoga regularly also establishes a sense of community among teachers and students, which contributes to your overall spiritual wellness.
“Remember, rest is rust,” says Welch. “Finding ways to incorporate exercise into your routine at any age can add years to your life and life to your years!”
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