Can Yoga Slow Down The Aging Process?

The aging process as we know it is the body degenerating from misuse and abuse. You spend your adult years working, sitting at a desk, or standing in a production line or on a sales floor. You eat fast food with too much salt and grease, and then you go home and collapse in front of the television every night. If you body doesn’t get any exercise, it will fall apart. That’s only common sense. Your body is a living machine, it needs to be taken care just as a car, or any other mechanical machine does. You need to give your body regular maintenance just as you do your car. Yoga is a great tool for preserving your body. There are many books, websites, and local classes can help give your body a tune-up and help you to start on a new healthy lifestyle. Keeping your spine healthy is a big step in keeping yourself active for your whole life. Flexibility and stretching can help you stay limber and flexible and if you think you are too old, you’re wrong.

Did you know that when you slouch your breathing capacity is limited? Slouching can compromise the basic need for your health, oxygen. Every cell is affected by lack of oxygen and they slowly start to die if they don’t get the oxygen they need. This is the root of what we call “aging.” People who practice Yoga seem so much younger and more active than their friends who don’t.

Breathing, and opening your lungs and increasing their ability can feed all those cells that are so desperately looking for the oxygen they need. There are 10-minute exercises that can help you strengthen your back, stretch out your lung capacity and should become a regular part of your Yoga routine. Backbends can be a part of this routine after practicing. They can tone your spinal column, and some will even help strengthen your arms, wrists, and legs. A good back bend will massage your kidneys, and lubricate those aching joints. When your back feels better, you feel younger, have more energy, and lift sagging spirits.

Many people who are just starting to practice Yoga are over 50. The secret is to start slowly after consulting with your Doctor and always warm up before starting work on your Asanas. Be sure you are using the correct form and stop immediately if you feel you are not doing the posture correctly. Don’t ever force yourself, if you have any doubts, ask your Yoga instructors. If anything hurts, stop doing it.

If you have avoided exercise all of your life but would like to have the added benefits of flexibility, it isn’t too late to start. Studied have shown that those people who started practicing Yoga late in life could slow the aging process and many report they feel better than they ever have! Remember, even if you are not working your Yoga routine, avoid slouching, stand or sit straight, make it a point to stretch often and breathe.