Skip to main content

Holistic Healing: The Benefits of Yoga and Meditation for Seniors and Caregivers


Medical science has embraced yoga and meditation for the benefits they confer on seniors and their caregivers. Doctors in increasing numbers are recommending yoga to their patients over 50 to help reduce blood pressure, relieve pain, and improve balance. Seniors who are initially skeptical often find the benefits of yoga and meditation can help them in ways they never imagined. Older adults frequently find yoga improves muscle and joint flexibility, enhances their mood, and alleviates stress and anxiety. And while elderly bodies aren’t always up to the physical discipline of yoga, its tremendous mental and emotional value can still be derived from classes adapted to the physical restrictions that often limit a senior’s movements.
Consult your physician
Always use common sense if you’re a senior getting started with yoga. Consult your physician if you’re a cardiac patient, have undergone surgery, or are taking medications. If you have osteoporosis, be aware there are certain yoga movements you shouldn’t attempt in order to avoid fracture.
Broad appeal
Older adults are sometimes put off by images of young, lithe people bending their bodies into pretzel-like shapes. But yoga is gaining broad appeal as more elderly people find that it isn’t just for the young and flexible. Yoga, even a few minutes a day, not only improves physical flexibility, it enhances cognitive functioning, bolsters cardiovascular health, and can even slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Seniors with a limited range of movement have been known to make remarkable improvements and gain an amazing degree of flexibility.
Find a yoga that suits you
There’s no one uniform version of yoga, but different kinds from “hot” to “gentle.” If your doctor has prescribed yoga, it’s important to begin by speaking with an instructor to determine what level of intensity is suitable based on your overall condition and physical fitness. Bear in mind that “chair” yoga and other low-impact versions are very popular with seniors and offer the same benefits as “traditional” forms.
Meditation
The benefits of meditation mirror those of yoga, which is, to a large extent, a mental discipline as well as a series of physical poses. It’s especially valuable for caregivers because meditation offers invaluable mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual benefits that can alleviate the stress under which caregivers labor. Find a space that relaxes you and offers solitude—a haven where you can focus your thoughts, free of distractions. It should be a meditation room where light can be kept to a minimum and where you’re able to fully relax. Light scented candles and play soothing music to maximize the effect. 
More than a workout
Yoga is much more than a physical activity: It’s a holistic form of mind-body medicine that improves mood and overall health—a combination of poses, meditation, and deep breathing that combine to integrate the mind, body, and spirit. And that’s the essence of yoga. Its ability to fuse one’s being lies at the heart of its ability to heal and enhance your sense of well-being. Yoga isn’t a workout activity like weightlifting or a cardio exercise where you push yourself past discomfort to achieve more and more. Yoga should never hurt; if it does, tell your instructor.
Yoga and meditation are tremendously effective healing disciplines that offer seniors and caregivers a great many physical and mental benefits. Medical science has increasingly turned to these disciplines to help older adults and their caregivers achieve a level of health they couldn’t attain otherwise and for good reason.

Courtesy of Pixabay




Comments

  1. I have found this to be true being firmly into "senior citizenship" as I discovered yoga last year. I had taken a class or 2 about 10 years ago and found them 'boring', but now I find yoga needful.
    <3

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yoga is still boring to me! But I do enjoy it's benefits when I can slow down enough and do it!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ups and Downs

  Maybe it's just "that time of year" for me, but I've struggled a lot the last few weeks. I still affectionately  call it the caregiver's fog. Lol. Okay, maybe it's not-so-affectionately. I know I can share my true feelings with you guys because you get it. You understand the day-to-day grind of caregiving. The military has a saying about there being no easy day. I think we live in that reality. It's just not easy caring for another whole person, is it? Caregiving presents many difficulties. We can find ourselves alone, so very alone on this journey. It doesn't just go away. We don't just work through it. It seems to go on and on. There are lots of ups and downs - and that can be about every 90 seconds some days. Right? (smile!) As I've been working through this emotional maze the last few days, I turned my thoughts to Daniel. Let's take a realistic look at his circumstances because as we read his story in the Bible, we tend to glamorize i

Seasons Are Temporary

  This morning, I found myself reading in Isaiah 28. I ended up there because I was looking for something in particular, and even though I didn't find what I was looking for, I found what I needed. God's so cool like that, isn't He? My eyes first fell on verse 29, which says in the NKJ: This also comes from the Lord of hosts, Who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in guidance. I rolled that over in my mind and heart a few times and spent a few minutes thinking about how I'd seen His counsel in action in my own life. We've all had those times when we weren't sure what to do or where to go, and suddenly, an idea drops into our thoughts. There are many ways He provides direction for us. He may direct our steps through a passage of scripture, a trusted spiritual leader such as a pastor, a YouTube teacher, and maybe even a lowly blog writer. Lol. No matter how He chooses to deliver His counsel, it comes - but we must listen. After I had rolled these thoughts and t

Seek and Ye Shall Find

 Over the last few weeks, I've been trying to strategize ways of dealing with stress. It's something we all deal with, especially caregivers. I'm walking and exercising more, which helps the body get rid of stress and it helps improve sleep to some degree. But I've also been working on training my thoughts. I've been working on purposefully finding things to be thankful for. At first, it was a bit difficult because let's face it, caregiving is hard work.  This morning, I was plugging Chris into a nebulizer for a breathing treatment as he had an asthma attack yesterday afternoon after we'd been out for a little bit. As I was doing his treatment and his tube feeding, I didn't even really think about it; this "thought" just rolled up out of me. I thought, thank you, Lord, for carrying us through the long night. My own thankfulness surprised me! Lol. I realized at that moment that it's getting easier and easier to be thankful, even for the litt