No Fear Senior Yoga

If there is something that everyone is terrified of, it is sickness and old age. While old age is unavoidable, health is in our control to a large degree. When there is health and agility, there is a liveliness of being and ageing can become a graceful process.  It is the time of life where one can enjoy life like a child again. During teenage, young adult and middle age, many of us spend time preparing for the next best thing – college, marriage, job, children – and spend a majority of our years in caretaking.  When we reach senior age,  most of the above are taken care of and hopefully with some savings in the bank, it is time for mature indulgence in hobbies for which there was little or no time, due to multiple other pursuits and constraints.

The other incentive to take charge of health is the exploding cost of health care where it is becoming unaffordable for many. One thing to realize is that the body is a wonderful machine, and if taken care of well will last us for a lifetime.  After all, isn’t that what we want? To be healthy, agile and flexible to maximize the ride of life. Our body has a great reserve of inbuilt repair mechanisms, where even if you not have taken care of it well for a period of time, the moment you start some form of exercise or yoga, it begins to respond and heal in ways beyond our expectation.  We hear numerous accounts of how by doing simple yoga, certain ailments went into remission, improved agility, reduced prescription dosage etc. So if you are one of those who waited until you hit your senior moment to be on an exercise plan to maintain your current state of health, then simple chair yoga may be a good place to start. The benefits of chair yoga are

1)  Being seated on a chair offers the needed mental and physical support for those with weak muscles, or agility problems.

2) Gentle practices that improve agility and flexibility.

3) Not having to deal with post exercise soreness as the practices are slow and easy.

4) Gradually improves muscle strength and coordination.

5) Reduces anxiety, stress and brings mental peace and calm.

6) Regular practice can even build enough physical strength and therefore the confidence to do more rigorous routines.

7) Improves body cell regeneration and restoration yoking the overall healing process.

If in your senior years, physical mobility has become an impediment to living an enriching life, starting simple chair yoga can recalibrate the overall physical strength and mental stability to embolden your confidence and spirit to become active and mobile once again. Being a senior need not be limiting, but  can be the beginning of another phase of  a scintillating  journey.

No fear dear seniors! Let’s get a chair and start moving with this chair yoga video.