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Getting Started with Yoga and Meditation:
A Guide for Seniors
One of the best things about yoga and meditation is that almost anyone can enjoy their benefits. These mindfulness-based activities help us relax while improving our sense of well-being. Better yet, yoga is the perfect low-impact exercise that can help seniors gently stretch and strengthen their core muscles. Yoga and meditation help you keep your mind and body in top shape, allowing you to age with positivity and avoid physical injury. Caregivers can even benefit from adopting a personal yoga practice. Here’s how to get started.
The Benefits of Meditation on the Mind
Meditation is commonly recommended for people who are suffering from stress. But, meditation is good for everyone, even people who already feel great. Specifically for seniors, Forbes claims that meditation can help preserve the aging brain. Meditation seems to prevent brain volume loss and can even strengthen areas of the brain involved in learning and memory.
Like seniors, people in addiction recovery may also suffer from a rapidly aging mind as a result of substance abuse. Meditation can be a valuable tool in recovery. Specifically, studies have found that meditation can reduce blood pressure and boost the immune system. It’s also great for relieving pain associated with drug withdrawals and can help people deal with depressive symptoms. Meditation may even be able to help enhance sleep in people who suffer from insomnia. People in recovery need to have a solid relationship with both their physical and their spiritual self. Yoga and meditation and valuable tools for this purpose.
The Benefits of Yoga on the Aging Body
Yoga has tons of benefits for seniors. The most well-known of these is improved flexibility with an enhanced range of motion. As a result, yoga can help reduce the pain and immobility that comes from diminished flexibility in aging. Yoga also has the potential to help seniors build strength as they hold up their own body weight in certain poses. These poses focus on core strength and balance, which can help people avoid injury from falls in the future. Yoga is especially good for people with joint or back pain as it strengthens the muscles around joints and reverses spinal compression.
Basic Poses for Seniors
If you’re ready to get stretching, start with these gentle yoga poses recommended by DoYouYoga. Caregivers can encourage seniors to try these poses 3-4 times a week to keep their bodies strong and resilient. First, mountain pose is ideal for practicing balance and holding a healthy posture. Tree pose is a little trickier but is great for hip mobility and abdominal strength. Bird dog is done from the hands and knees, supporting the strength of the spine and back muscles. Similarly, downward dog is perfect for joint strength and flexibility. Other beginner poses include sphinx pose, cobbler’s pose and Savasana.
How to Avoid Injury
Though yoga is a gentle, low-impact form of exercise, seniors still have to be careful. Older adults are especially prone to yoga injuries since they tend to have more fragile bodies. To avoid injury, stick to beginner’s yoga classes and don’t jump into an advanced class just because you practiced when you were young. Perhaps you want to seek out yoga classes specifically for seniors by qualified instructors. More importantly, never move in a way that causes pain. Talk to your doctor before starting yoga since there may be certain poses you should avoid. If you have certain injuries that prevent you from safely doing yoga altogether, you can still benefit from the calming and pain-reducing effects of meditation.
Although you can follow yoga videos online, you’ll benefit the most from an in-person yoga instructor. Instructors will help you avoid injury and find the ideal poses for your body’s needs. On the other hand, guided meditation videos available online can be very useful to people starting out with meditation for the first time. These can help you tune into your body and learn how to focus on the breath. Try different yoga and meditation techniques until you find those that make you feel the best!
Harry Cline is creator of NewCaregiver.org and author of the upcoming book, The A-Z Home Care Handbook: Health Management How-Tos for Senior Caregivers. As a retired nursing home administrator, father of three, and caregiver to his ninety-year-old uncle, Harry knows how challenging and rewarding caregiving can be. He also understands that caregiving is often overwhelming for those just starting out. He created his website and is writing his new book to offer new caregivers everywhere help and support.