Yoga isn’t just something that’s been used for wellness throughout the ages. It’s also something that may actually help to fight aging. Here’s why yoga is incredible for older adults:
- It helps with agility and flexibility.
- It offers a low-impact way to stay fit and active.
- It boosts feel-good chemicals in the brain.
- When done in a community setting, yoga provides socialization and engagement.
Anyone who has done a yoga session can attest to the fact that they feel amazing afterwards! However, you don’t have to rely on anecdotal chatter to see that yoga offers tons of benefits as we age. Science has plenty to say about the benefits of yoga for older adults.
Yoga may help to prevent frailty as we age
“Yoga is an attractive non-pharmacologic intervention for frailty given its multimodal nature and evidence it targets multiple geriatric syndromes simultaneously,” according to a 2024 review on the impact of yoga on aging physiology. The review highlights the way that multiple studies show that yoga likely positively impacts cellular and molecular hallmarks of aging. It’s also beneficial for preventing age-related physiologic decline across the cardiovascular, pulmonary, nervous, and musculoskeletal systems. Another tidbit from the review is that yoga appears to improve leg strength. For aging adults, this is a major benefit because it ultimately impacts daily activities that can include getting out of bed or rising from chairs.
Yoga’s overall benefits for aging
A 2021 review found that yoga appears to have a wide range of benefits that includes increased mobility, reduced risk for slips and falls, protection against cognitive decline, increased flexibility, increased strength, better balance, improved sleep, and overall improved mental well-being. Just what does it take to start seeing these benefits? According to researchers, a typical intervention consisting of 45 minutes per week over a course of eight to 12 weeks could be enough to produce significant results.
Yoga’s benefits for brain health as we age
There’s some pretty big news about the connection between yoga and age-related cognitive decline. A study from UCLA Health found that some forms of yoga provide several benefits for cognition and memory for older women at risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. It turns out that yoga may help to restore neural pathways, prevent brain matter decline, and reverse aging and inflammation-associated biomarkers. What’s notable is that these improvements were not seen in groups that received interventions consisting of standard memory-training exercises.
What are some tips for getting yoga’s aging benefits?
The beauty of yoga is that practitioners truly can decide to go as “soft” or “hard” as they want. When the goal is to enjoy cognitive benefits, gentler yoga done at a slower pace can offer meditation-like benefits. For those who want to work up a sweat as they pursue more intensive fitness goals, strenuous yoga programs can boost flexibility and endurance. Of course, the first tip for getting yoga’s anti-aging benefits is simply to start! Here are some other pointers and practice tips for using the best yoga poses and techniques for older adults:
- Start slowly and simply with beginner-level, low-intensity yoga workouts.
- Take classes or workshops to ensure that you’re using poses correctly. While gentle, yoga can cause strain or injury when it’s done improperly.
- Get familiar with the relaxation pose that can be used at the end of every session to calm the mind, relax the body, and open receptiveness for healing and restoration.
- Talk to your doctor about starting yoga if you have any pressing health issues that require you to be careful with exercise.
Are you ready to see just how ageless yoga can make you? We’d love to see you here at Ignite Yoga! Our studio welcomes guests of all ages seeking to tap into the timeless benefits of this age-old anti-aging practice.
