Youre Never Too Old to Start Yoga.

Youre Never Too Old to Start Yoga. Yoga for the Older Folks Among Us. ChaptersA Brief History of YogaWhy Do Yoga?What Is a Senior When it Comes to Yoga?Yoga for Seniors: Adapt Your ObjectivesAdapting Yoga to SeniorsChair YogaYoga Poses that Older Yogis Should AvoidChoosing a Yoga Instructor for SeniorsHelpful Things You Might Need for Yoga.Some Tips that Elder Yogis Should Remember.A Yoga Glossary“Age is something that doesn't matter, unless you are a cheese.” - Luis BunuelYoga is an activity that many people are familiar with and that many people practise, regardless of their age. In fact, whether you’re doing a sun salutation, mindfulness meditation, or twisting, we can work on our body, mind, and spirit whether we’re 7 or 77.However, age does play a role in your ability to let go and in the effectiveness of certain yoga poses.  Annoyingly enough, there is more to it than just thinking positively! Yoga requires balance, strength, and flexibility - all things that diminish as we get older - and, although it may look like people making poses on the floor, it's an activity that can cause injury if you throw yourself into it with too much enthusiasm.Luckily, though, yoga improves all these things too - and it can be both a great work out and a de-stressing activity. Yet, it's worth knowing some different things if you are approaching the activity as an older person - and that's what we are going to talk about here.So at what age are you considered a senior?In the world of sport, you can very quickly be considered a senior. In athletics, a senior can be in their early 20s! Of course, it’s all relative. When it comes to the stretches, alignment, and warming up of yoga, everyone can do it as long as they adapt it to their age.In this article, we're going to look at senior yoga. People can still attend a yoga near me class, do yoga postures, and enjoy the restorative benefits of yoga well into their twilight years.Building from these works, many different scholars and 'yogis' built upon the ancient scripts and teachings. Over the years, they eventually developed a form of yoga known as Hatha Yoga. This is generally what we know as yoga these days - with its salutations, and its attention to body awareness and breathing - in which the physical body becomes the important aspect in spiritual enlightenment and enrichment.Twentieth-Century YogaInto the twentieth century, yoga practitioners travelled to the west, and some of them began to combine traditional yoga techniques with western exercises. One of the major minds in what came to be known as the 'Yoga Renaissance' was  Swami Kuvalayananda, who practised long into his senior years.And if you are looking for inspiration, you might want to look at Tao Porchon - the world's oldest yoga teacher, who turned 100 last year.  Based in New York, she still teaches up to eight classes a week - and attributes her old age to the fact that she has been practicing yoga since she was six!Why Do Yoga?People do yoga for a whole load of reasons: to reduce stress, to develo p physical fitness, flexibility, and core strength and it's a particularly good supplement to other exercises too. Yet, there is a lot of research that suggests that yoga also combats pain, irritable bowels, obesity, and asthma.Among older people, it's a fantastic way to develop health and well-being in a low-impact and social way. Keeping active is important at all ages - particularly when you are older. Exercise in general helps your mental health and your mood - and can contribute greatly to improved sleep patterns.The majority of people that commit to yoga find that the spiritual aspects of the discipline become ever more interesting. So, if you are into that, you may find that you find greater inner peace by dedicating yourself to the exercise.And finally, as one of the most in-vogue exercise disciplines in the world, you are sure to look super cool whilst doing it too!What Is a Senior When it Comes to Yoga?Whatever discipline you practise, be it yoga or otherwise, there is an age when you’ll be considered a senior. This is the age when you’ll need to adapt certain exercises to match your age and your fitness. However, this is a generalisation, as there are some people of a certain age who’ll be fitter and more capable than their younger counterparts.Age is just a number, after all. That said, there are things that are easier to do when you're younger. (Source: aunhtet0)Of course, not every yoga posture is the same and time takes its toll on parts of your body such as your spine, hips, knees and problems like arthritis can make it seem that the yoga practice has an age limit.There are specialised yoga courses for senior citizens since most people of a similar age will have a similar level when it comes to doing sporting activities such as yoga. For the purpose of this article, we'll consider a senior to be someone who’s approaching retirement whose physical prowess isn’t what it once was during their younger years.When it comes to breathing tech niques, alignment, muscle toning, improving flexibility, and managing stress, there are certain considerations that need to be made for older yogis. You can’t do all of the above with the same intensity as you would with a group of 20-somethings. However, there’s nothing that can’t be altered to work for older participants. You just need to modify the energy and intensity of the courses.If you’re pregnant, you’ll probably want to consider prenatal yoga, a type of gentle yoga that women in the first or second trimester of pregnancy can do.Yoga for Seniors: Adapt Your ObjectivesYoga is a great discipline but you need to manage your goals and adapt them to your own capabilities. There are plenty of reasons and goals for doing yoga:RelaxExerciseMeet new peopleUnderstand a new way of lifeChange how you eat and exerciseHarmonise your mind, body, and spiritStart meditatingLearn to control your breathingAnd many others!Once you reach a certain age, you'll have to change how you do sport. (Source: HoliHo)Thus, there are plenty of reasons for seniors to start doing yoga. Throughout your life, these goals and reasons will change and there’s nothing wrong with deciding to start doing yoga later on in your life.Don’t forget that those with physical disabilities can also do yoga!Adapting Yoga to SeniorsWhether you’re 50 or 100, as we age, our bodies become less responsive and it’s more difficult to certain things once you reach a certain age. This isn’t necessarily a problem. However, you do need to take this into account in order to enjoy all the benefits of yoga and do your breathing exercises or poses like the sun salutation.There's no age limit when it comes to being active. (Source: Ellen26)As you get older, you’ll need to consider attending yoga classes that are adapted to your age and your fitness rather than practising on your own as you run the risk of injuring yourself. The idea is to harmonise your body, mind, and spirit regardless of your a ge. After all, yoga is a way of life that’s open to everyone!Look up for yoga London now.There are a number of different types of yoga which are good for older yogis:Nidra yoga which can help those who struggle to sleep manage their concerns.Yoga for back pain.Laughter yoga, a type of yoga that’s aimed at those who are feeling sad and only, something which can happen as we get older and approach retirement.These aren’t the only examples but they do show that regardless of your age, you can still do yoga. You just need to listen to your body and find out which type of yoga is best for you.Find out more about yoga for couples.Whilst that is sort of the essentials, you may want also to consider the following:Yoga brick.  - These are blocks of foam that you can use to position yourself better when following your yoga workout. They also double up as seats that you can use during moments of rest.Yoga blanket.  - Any blanket will do, but these are designed to maintain your core body temperature when you are in between routines.Otherwise, some proper sports gear is recommended. Whilst it may look relaxed, yoga is a workout, so swap those jeans for some leggings.Some Tips that Elder Yogis Should Remember.It is worth pointing out a few things that might be helpful to know about yoga. There are ways to practise that may be more beneficial and others that are less so. And, whilst yoga might not seem like a particularly grueling discipline, it can hurt you if you are doing it wrong.So, here are a few things to remember when you are starting off with yoga - things that will keep you motivated, improving, and safe.Start slow. - When learning a new discipline, sport, or even just a pose, it is important to start off slowly: don't rush into any yoga pose, as you don't want to strain yourself.Practise regularly.  - Just because you are starting slowly, it doesn't mean that your yoga has to stay slow for long. Instead, the more you practise, the sooner you will improve you r flexibility, your balance, your strength, and the sooner you will see the health benefits.Be honest about your ability.  - Be honest with yourself about the amount of exercise you can do and about the way your body feels whilst doing it. It's okay, when starting off, not to be amazingly competent nor super strong - but don't push yourself harder than you can go.Perform the poses correctly.  - Beginners yoga is fairly undemanding. However, it is really important to try to do the poses as correctly as possible. If you do them wrong, you may not get all of the intended benefits - and you may even end up hurting yourself!A Yoga GlossaryAsanathe poses adopted in yogaVinyasathe movement between poses.Kripalua type of yoga focused on physical healing and spiritual transformationKundalinidivine energy thought to reside at the base of the spineNamastea greeting in Hindi, but heard everywhere in yoga circles.Pranayamabreathing control