Why Yoga is the Best Exercise as You Age - Foxboro

23 April 2014      

1. Balance. In yoga class, you'll wind up doing a lot of balancing postures. In the balance poses the trick is to relax into the balance -- a lesson for life and a lesson as you age. Forcing things will not work and you'll likely be so tense that you'll never stand on that one foot. A lot of older Americans have trouble with balance. The more you balance now, the better off you'll be later.

2. Lubricate your joints. This is a term for one of the benefits of yoga. After a yoga class, your joints feel lubricated, and it's true. It's like the tin man must have felt after he got his hit of oil. After spending decades sitting in an office chair old bodies need to move around to loosen up and to oil those joints. Yoga is the next best thing to a squirt of that oil.

3. Strength. Muscle mass declines as you age. It's a proven fact. But rather than go to a gym and lift weights, why not work on many of the muscles in your body. Yoga does just that. Your triceps will get bigger and stronger, not from free weights but from doing chaturangas over and over again. It's the same for all those others muscles. You'll feel the burn in your quads and elsewhere.

4. Peace of mind. Some of this comes with age anyway, but why not put down that damned smartphone for 90 minutes and get on the mat. You'll live much longer.

For more information on yoga, contact Answer is Fitness.

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