No matter what our age, starting a new activity can be fun and freeing, especially when it helps to liven up our bodies. As many people know, the older our bodies get, the weaker they become, and movement can become difficult, if you are not keeping it moving regularly. Yoga is a great way to overcome issues of mobility and has many other amazing benefits for people in their later years. Here are just a few reasons why yoga is great:

Yoga can help strengthen your bones.

Yoga is great at helping to stop osteoporosis. This is a medical condition which causes bones to become brittle and weaken, because bone reproduction cannot keep up with the decrease of bone mass and density which is very common when ageing.

Yoga reduces anxiety.

Yoga is good for restoring calm in the body and relaxing the mind. Practicing yoga can reduce the body’s reaction to fight or flight response, which causes a lot of pressure on our minds and bodies. As the practice of yoga also uses a lot of breath work and slow movement, this can also create a calm environment, to make the body become more relaxed. It can also help to lower your heart rate and blood pressure, which makes breathing easier.

Enhanced flexibility, mobility and strength.

Due to the precise nature of yoga, it can not only improve your balance, due to trying out new yoga poses, which is great for preventing falls. It is also great for remedying achy joints and increasing your mobility and strength, through low impact movements.

Yoga can improve sleep.

As yoga can be a very relaxing practice, many experience better sleep, either using relaxation methods taught through yoga classes, or just in general due to the relaxing nature of the movement.

Reduces High Blood Pressure and can improve respiration.

It has been proven that yoga can help with reducing high blood pressure, which is a strong risk factor for heart attacks. With age comes respiratory limitations and reduced tolerance to physical exertion. Anything that reduces oxygen in the respiratory system can have negative effects on the mind and body. Studies have shown that a 12-week yoga program significantly improved respiratory function in elderly women.

Hopefully these benefits have piqued your interest into practicing yoga! Any class is amazing and is well worth trying if it’s something new to you, or even if it’s an old skill that needs rekindling.

If you are in the Sheffield area and want to try out a class especially for those in your later years, come down to R1SE’s Brook Place Yoga Studio in Sheffield, on Monday at 9.30am for our Older Yogi’s class. You can CLICK HERE to find out more about our different classes.