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January/February 2011 Alternative Health
Yoga for Healthy Aging

by Aadil Palkhivala

Aging and health problems seem to go hand-in-hand. Yoga, one of the most ancient healing practices around today, holds the key to healthy aging and coping with age-related diseases, including arthritis and high blood pressure.

Start a yoga program today, and you’re on your way to aging well.

Balance

Balance is the ability to control and maintain the body’s position whether in motion or remaining still. As people grow older, they may have trouble with their balance.

Asana (poses) help cultivate the tiny muscles around the joints, which are critical in the development of balance. These poses also strengthen the ankles and hips, which help balance. Inversions rebalance the energy in the ear canal, making sure the inner ear gets enough blood supply. Inner ear problems are known for causing balance problems.

Bone Density

Any bone not used by putting pressure on it starts to lose density. Yoga teaches how to put weight on our bones safely to build the density back. When combined with a sound nutrition program, the proper food builds strong bones. The key is not only what’s in the food, but how the body absorbs the nutrients. In the case of bones, the biggest myth is that milk is good for building bones, but in reality, the phosphorus in milk affects the absorption of calcium.

Memory

There are two primary reasons for loss of memory as we age. The first is an inadequate supply of blood to the brain. This may be caused by a subluxation in the spine. The second reason is tension or scarring in the meninges, which puts pressure on the brain and prevents synapses from firing properly.  

Yoga brings blood flow to the brain. It helps keep cranial sutures mobile so they don’t cram the meninges. It assists the movement of the spine, preventing subluxations and reversing ones that are already present.

Flexibility

Aging makes it harder for our bodies to move freely. This is why flexibility is so important as we age. What many people don’t realize is that flexibility by itself can actually be dangerous. The key to flexibility is including alignment and strength to cultivate the joints. Yoga doesn’t just aim to make us more flexible, but to balance flexibility with strength.

Muscle Mass

As the human body ages, muscle mass deteriorates. Traditional muscle-building activities such as weight lifting, however, can place undue stress on our bodies as we get older, and may end up causing injuries. Yoga, on the other hand, is a safe and gentle way to help build and maintain muscle mass. While a yoga practice will not make you look like a young Arnold Schwarzenegger, when practiced properly it is an effective means of maintaining and developing muscle mass. It also provides the added benefit of combining lean muscle mass with flexibility, which is much more beneficial to an aging body than building bulky, tight muscles that lack flexibility.

Endurance

As we age, yoga is a panacea for increasing endurance. Yoga teaches movement of the body in a safe and aligned way. It relieves tension in the diaphragm and rib cage, which helps the heart pump more easily. Through the practice of mild inversions (upside down poses) blood is pumped into the heart. In fact, some research shows that you pump more volume of blood through your heart in five minutes of inversions than in 30 minutes of jogging.

Stress

According to Dr. Hans Selye, one of the foremost researchers in the world on how stress affects the body and founder of the International Institute of Stress at the University of Montreal, “Every stress leaves an indelible scar and the organism pays for its survival after a stressful situation by becoming a little older.”

Stress presents itself in a number of ways, including headaches, muscle stiffness and tightness, fatigue, and anxiety. Chronic stress, as discovered by Selye, can lead to a number of degenerative diseases, including coronary thrombosis, brain hemorrhage, hardening of the arteries, high blood pressure, kidney failure, arthritis, peptic ulcers and cancer. Yoga is one of the most effective, natural ways to relieve the body of stress.

Getting Started

The best way to get started with yoga is to find a certified instructor near you. A certified instructor has more than 2,000 hours of training and continuing education, whereas a non-certified teacher may have as little as 200 hours of training.

Yoga is not to be performed — yoga is to be lived.

Aadil Palkhivala, author of Fire of Love: For Students of Life, For Teachers of Yoga, has been training yoga teachers in India, Europe and the United States since 1976. Aadil and his wife, Mirra, are the founders and directors of the Yoga Centers and The College of Purna Yoga in Bellevue. Visit www.purnayoga.com.