People are living longer than ever before, and, if you were born between 1946 and 1964, you are part of the group often called baby boomers.
I am a baby boomer — I’ll be turning the big 7-0 on my next birthday. I find that hard to believe, but time marches on, and yoga helps me make the best of it, even as I sail into my golden years. Yoga can help keep you healthy as you age, too!
For women, the adjustment of aging is often affected by menopause and perimenopause, which I’ve written about in other articles, including this one.
From a broader perspective, as we age everyone finds themselves in new life phases such as retirement, children leaving the nest, becoming grandparents. It’s important to navigate these changes by picking up — or continuing — simple lifestyle habits like moderate exercise, healthy eating (including limiting portion sizes and eliminating some or all meat), and toning down or quitting the use of alcohol and recreational drugs. These good habits can help us live life more clearly, even as concerns about balance, strength, brain health, and more come more into play.
With all that in mind, here are 7 ways yoga can help keep you healthy, or at least healthier, as you age.
1. MUSCULAR STRENGTH
Muscle mass declines as we age. Even with a lot of weightlifting and other resistance exercises like plank poses, the body will inevitably lose strength with age. If you are already exercising and doing yoga, it’s important that, if your body is saying “no”, you do not to try to do everything you could do 10 years ago. That is why swimmer Dian Nyad was so impressive impressive, not only because she became only the third person ever to swim from Havana, Cuba, to Key West, Florida, a distance of 110 miles, but because she did it at age 64, an age where her strength was declining!
The good news for those just starting yoga is that our muscles do respond well at any age. So even though we may not be able to build the muscle mass we could when we were in our 20s, we can still improve upon what we have, and keep ourselves stronger and more fit as we age.
2. BONE STRENGTH
This is one of the reasons we need to keep working our muscles to whatever degree they will perform as it is the isometrics of strength training that will keep our bones strong.
When I had my first bone density test in my mid 60s the doctor was impressed that someone with my small-boned build had so little progressive bone loss. She attributed my bone health to the fact that I practice yoga and said had I been taking a calcium supplement regularly — something I do now — I might have shown no bone loss!
Studies show that for maximum benefit you must squeeze the muscles to the bone for at least 30 seconds, which is why Iyengar yoga and Ashtanga yoga with strong longer holds are particularly good for building bone strength. I have been doing both Iyengar and Ashtanga since I was 41 years old. Keep in mind that it is active yoga practices that target strengthening muscles and bones, not necessarily the fast-paced ones.
3. AEROBIC ENDURANCE
Speaking of faster-paced yoga that build aerobic endurance, which encourage flows, once you are a practiced yogi, it’s safe to add those to your practice, because they help build aerobic strength and endurance. I definitely do not suggest diving into high-intensity yoga sessions as a beginner, because it’s too easy to get hurt. That said, remember that it it is going into and out of poses where we are most likely to get hurt, so listen to your body and stay safe!
4. JOINT HEALTH
Squeezing your muscles also enhances your joint health. Your joints help you move into whatever level of flexibility you have, and your muscles support your joints. So, for example, if your knees can tolerate deep squats, it is a good idea to focus on the muscles in your legs that support the joints. Alignment becomes increasingly important as we age into bodies that are not as strong and resilient as when we were younger!
5. LUNG CAPACITY
Because proper breathing through the nose and fully into the bottom of your lungs is an important aspect of doing yoga properly, yoga breathing can help baby boomers have longer, fuller lives as they develop longer, fuller breaths. Yogis believe we are each born with a designated number of breaths, so if you learn to breathe slowly and deeply, you may live longer. Deep breathing also helps you connect with your emotions, instead of holding them in, creating stress and tension in your body. The way we breathe corresponds to the way we live — shallow and panicked, or deep and sensitive.
6. BRAIN HEALTH
Dementia and related diseases are more common as we age. Certain yoga practices, like headstand, flush out the brain. Certain meditations, like kirtan kriya in Kundalini yoga, have been shown to create more blood flow to the brain, resulting in mental alacrity, clarity, and a feeling of well-being. UCLA Health psychiatrist Helen Lavretsky, MD, has also conducted interesting studies that show the benefits of yoga for the brain.
7. BALANCE
Last but not least is the issue of balance. When my parents entered a retirement community the f-word there was FALL! Years later, as I approach age 70, I already feel how much easier it is to fall. Having been a runner in high school and college, I once thought of my legs as the strongest parts of my body. As I said in #1 above, though, I know that try as I might, I will never again have the leg strength of my youth.
However, my regular practice of standing balancing poses — and arm balances for upper body strength — and standing poses like Warriors, where I engage both legs strongly at the same time, will keep my legs stronger, and my balance better, than if I were not practicing yoga. From a practical perspective, I often walk my 50-pound dog. He can go from zero to 100 in no time when he sees a skateboarder, or an Amish horse and buggy when we’re at Sewall House! I am pretty sure I would be pulled down a lot more if I didn’t do my standing poses with long holds!
CONCLUSION
I hope I’ve informed and inspired you with these 7 ways yoga can keep you healthy as you age. And, fortunately, it’s never too late to start!
If you want to start yoga as an older person, and have existing conditions, look for an experienced, and maybe older, yoga teacher to work with. Or … come to Sewall House! We have been teaching yoga to people of all ages since 1997. We love helping people at any stage of life integrate this wonderful tool of healing and awareness into their lives. At Sewall House, we are all experienced yogis, who have been practicing for most of our lives, and we are eager to help anyone integrate yoga, and the yoga lifestyle, into their lives.
Sewall House is open for personal retreats from Memorial Day to mid-October. If you want to truly get away, book 3 to 5 nights (or even a week!) at Sewall House Yoga Retreat. You can participate in as many or as few of our daily activities (including all meals) as fit your inclination and schedule, and enjoy some time in beautiful northern Maine. BOOK NOW!
Learn more with Donna’s Yoga for Baby Boomers series on YouTube.
Donna Sewall Davidge is the founder and owner of Sewall House Yoga Retreat in beautiful Island Falls, Maine.
