Yoga for Senior Citizens!!

                                    

We all grow up but it’s only by choice we get to age gracefully!! As one’s body ages simple tasks such as climbing a flight of stairs, a quick jog around the park, tying your own shoes or even something as simple as sitting cross legged on the floor for a small about of time become a herculean task, now for most the minute these small tasks become difficult the logical human decides that the best course of action would be to accept it as a part of ageing and avoid those activities altogether. 

Unfortunately the logic is flawed and reverse is the better way to go about aging gracefully as with the right diet and exercise an older person can sometimes be even more fit than a youngster!!

An excellent way to ease into an exercise routine at an advance age is through yoga, as the benefits (especially for a mature person) include an increase in muscle tone ( lost over the years ) ,improvement of balance and of course the overall improvement of one’s mood and mental health.

Start off slow with a few basic asans and pranayama sessions to warm up all your joints and improve your lung capacity, the benefits include a reduction in your stress levels and a normalization of your blood pressure (as such can be done by people with both high and low BP) and even an improvement concentration (that’s right a loss of concentration is not just for the internet baby).

Although at first glance most of the postures such as the Virabhadra series, Trikonasana may seem more suited to a more younger practitioner with a few modification and props  ( as suggested by your guru) they can easily be achieved and after enough practice, one can even surpass a 20 year old doing the same asanas.

Here are a few basic steps and asanas that can be done by anyone with joint pains (please consult a guru before performing these on your own).

Asanas for body balance with wall support in the beginning

Parvatasana:(mentioned

-          Stand with your back to the wall for support, raise your arms by your sides and join your hands above your head, slowly your arms and your body upwards (inhaling) slowly coming on your toes for those with no ankle problems) after a few seconds slowly come down (exhaling) lowering your arms to your sides repeat 2-3 times at a go.

Santulasana:

-          Face the wall and place your right palm on it (high above your head) for support, raise your left leg towards your back as high as you can and support it using your left hand, hold the position for 3-4 deep breaths; repeat using the other leg and hand.

Other asanas that are beneficial to an older person include the Virbhadra series which may be perceived as a tough one but would help to strengthen their legs and as a side benefits brings confidence.

While the sitting and lying on back and stomach series can be done to improve flexibility in one’s knees and help with other health issues like diabetes and liver disorders. 

And finally for people of all generations meditation is a must as it acts as a guide to let go all material ATTACHMENT and tensions in life, accept the present moment and be ready for any mental challenges one’s coming years after all aging of the body is inevitable but the aging of the mind is always a choice!! 

If one wants more detail about asanas which seniors can do and most of which is mentioned in "YOGA FOR ARTHRITIS".Make sure seniors take support of wall while practicing standing postures and while sitting down postures keep the back straight by sitting on cushion or wall support .

HARI OM TAT SAT

YOGA FOR CONCENTRATION

Concentration through Yoga:

Name any endeavor that can be achieved without the help of concentration!! Tough isn't it? But for most of us a concentrated mind is not our natural state, like a honey bee our mind is forever buzzing from one thought to another either focusing on tensions to be faced in the future or mistakes in the past and this my friends; is where the prime benefits of yoga can be seen.

Thanks to the tough postures or asanas (especially the balancing ones) one can’t help but disconnect him/herself from the troubling thoughts thus gradually teaching one’s subconscious to simply be in the moment and focus on the task at hand, another way by which these asanas help is by stimulating the spine thus energizing the nervous system to back up your focused mind.

The rhythmic breathing which accompanies all of the postures, or in some cases forms a stand alone A asana has a series of benefits on its own; for starters it helps one in getting centered and focused during the pose; the extra oxygen invigorates your brain thus calming it down and build concentration, by synchronizing your breath with your movements your mind is eased into the challenge of each pose thus allowing you to focus on a single stance at a time which in turn improves your mental well being.

Another yoga technique which helps one improve their focus is the guided meditation. By having a guru walk you through the process of thoughtless awareness the stress producing activity of the mind is reduced, effectively replacing you inner turmoil with peace and thus increasing one’s mental strength and ability to stay in the present moment.

But learning to be in the present moment is not all about getting your concentration on track, some of the other benefits one gets along the way include, an improvement in sleep and increase in ones energy levels, a normalization of  one’s blood pressure (which is a side effect of getting  reduction/ a complete freedom from anxiety and/or depression ) and of course an improvement of one’s mood

Here a few asanas which would help you improve your concentration and be in the moment .

I would suggest simple postures in the beginning for the starters like ...

Santulasana followed by Natrajasana:

Stand straight with legs close to each other and gently bend your right leg and hold you right ankle with right hand.keep your arm straight and the other arms raised up close to the ear. stand straight and once able to focus with your eyes opened then close the eyes and balance which involves total focus and more awareness in the part of the body which is grounded.

Once your are able to focus and hold for longer ,up to 20 secs or more then slowly shift to Natrajasana (the third picture in the post).

Once you are able to perform simple one with ease then go for advanced postures,

                 

These are few examples.You can try most of the balancing postures closing the eyes which will help not only for adults to focus and improve concentration  but also for kids in their studies.Try it.

Hari om Tat Sat

Yoga and Depression

Yoga and Depression

Sometimes its easy to get overwhelmed, its easy to feel low and alone, we all have days like that, for the lucky ones with a positive outlook, this days are few and far in between, but what about the rest of us? What happens when these days are numerous and sometimes stretch for weeks? It’s easy to dismiss this as just a phase and hope the problem will go away but what about the effects this ‘phase’ has on your body in the meanwhile?

The body and mind are intricately intertwined as in what changes good or bad is enforced on one with have a similar outcome on the other, so a simple feeling of prolonged sadness would cause increased aches and pains, weight gain or loss, insomnia and as a result overall fatigue.

The sad part is that the solution is both easy and difficult, as when one feels low a lethargy sets in which in turns effects ones breathing which is cause of so many problems, so the simple solution would be to move even more , but how does one do so when the mind is working against itself?

 This is where yoga can help

-          One of the main benefits is the excess amounts of oxygen one takes in during the many practices of yoga, this in turn invigorates the circulation system thus stimulating your body out of its inertness

-          Due to the focus one needs to maintain the balance during pro the mind immediately stops focusing on the troubling thoughts thus allowing itself a break from the pain thus elevating ones mood and increasing its focus on the body

-          Yoga also helps one feel a sense of accomplishment, after all its takes a lot to maintain your balance in that one position for as long as possible

-          It helps you grow spiritually, hard as it may sound yoga helps one connect to the spiritual sides of life thus allowing one to takes things a little bit easier thus reducing ones anxiety

Here are a few basic yoga postures that helps:

First I would suggest Suryanamaskaras with right breathing.More you do more active your body becomes.To know more about how to perform check in my blog titled "Suryanamaskaras a health tonic".
Just to be careful if one has not learnt yoga before then learn from the proper teacher so that you don't harm yourself by just blindly following what is mentioned in blog.
There are many of them now a days suffering from combination of problems like diabetes and low back and neck complaints.In that case though Suryanamaskaras are good  for  diabetes but not to be practiced initially, for other health issues mentioned. I would suggest one must go slow taking in to consideration each problem at a time giving priority to certain problem.In this way one can get rid of health issues if any, in a slow process but confidently.

Ushtrasana-Practice with one arm then slowly both arms together. Hold for 10 secs during exhalation.Repeat  thrice.

Sarpasana: Practice for  1 min twice a day

Practice Chakrasana from the floor and hold it for 10 secs and repeat three times .
Just to mention above asanas are not to be done by people suffering from hernia and uterus prolapse.
They can practice Nadishodhana Pranayama.To know more in detail please check the post"Nadishodhna"in my blog.

                           

                                                           HARI OM TAT SAT