Experience complete rejuvenation and slow the ageing process
through yoga.
Yoga not only allows you to feel younger within and live healthier and longer, but it literally slows down the bodily ageing process in ways you can see and feel. Here I explain exactly how, telling you the best moves you can make against ageing skin, varicose veins, body flab and many other physical aspects of maturing.
The ageing process is, of course, completely natural and inevitable. No science or belief system can or should go against the laws of nature.
What yoga can do though, is reduce many of the common physical effects of ageing, including the appearance of the skin, chronic weakness, and curvature of the spine, which causes shrinking.
Ageing at the cellular level
Ageing occurs because the trillions of cells that our bodies are made up of are constantly regenerating, resulting in a completely new make-up around every seven years. As time goes on though, the rate of regeneration becomes slower. In general, up to the age of about 20, our cells rejuvenate faster than they decay – this is the anabolic stage. Between aged 20 and roughly 35, cell rejuvenation and cell decay are in a kind of equilibrium. It is normally after this age that cell decay happens faster than cell regeneration. This is what causes our bodies to weaken, age and become more susceptible to illness.
Yoga is proven to slow down the decay of cells, to nurture living cells to stay healthy for longer, and to encourage cell re-growth.
Your body is the greatest asset you’ll ever have – it is your very being, your most powerful tool.
Look after it.
By its very nature, yoga keeps both your physical and mental assets strong and healthy way into old age. Yoga’s unique combination of physical positions, gentle exercise, breathing and meditation helps reduce illness, stiffness, pain and weakness.
How?
Yoga poses put pressure on different parts of the body, pushing toxins and old blood out of your organs. When the yoga pose is released, fresh, oxygenated blood then flows back into your vital organs, allowing your body to absorb all-important oxygen and nutrients
Yogic philosophy itself, which in a good yoga class will vitally affect how you respond to your body, also focuses on nurturing a positive mindset. It helps you live life to the full, teaching you how to work with your body and not against it.
Let’s look at how yoga can reduce distinct aspects of ageing...
Looking after your back
One of the most visible and enduring symptoms of growing older is the shortening and rounding of the spine, causing shrinking and possibly discomfort. By practicing yoga regularly you will improve your visible posture significantly and also
eliminate tensions in the bones and muscles around the spine.
A more ‘elastic’ or flexible back allows the spaces between vertebrae to open up and receive the nutrients they must absorb to keep you healthy. In the other case, if vertebrae become compressed from age and gravity, nutrients flow less freely and the ageing process actually speeds up.
We are as young as our spine is flexible’
is an old and wise yogic saying. It is suppleness and ease of nerves that keep our bodies youthful, and the spine is the central column of your physicality as well as your nervous system.
A natural anti-toxicant
When you do certain poses in yoga, you are actually squeezing toxins out of your organs and effectively strengthening your immune system. The simple stretching and lengthening of your muscles along with deep breathing detoxifies your lymphatic system. And a stronger lymphatic system makes you more resistant to illness.
Bones
Many people experience pain in their bones as they grow older, for example arthritis. As you improve your posture and suppleness through yoga, you could feel a really big difference, particularly in your joints.
Circulation
Yoga is a fantastic way to aid your blood circulation, which is vital when you are going through ageing. Special yoga positions open up your chest and expand your lung capacity. When these are combined with controlled breathing and stretching out your back, a yoga session will allow your bodily cells to take in more oxygen, which is vital for their function. Better circulation also tones and firms up your skin, which can lose its elasticity with age.
Reversing the effects of gravity
Many of the physical things we don’t like about ageing are simply down to gravity. If you use yoga to tackle ageing, you can work into inverted positions where blood flows to the face, brain and upper body. Regular practice at this reduces aspects such as wrinkled, dry skin, a double chin, and even varicose veins.
Weight management
Although often a slow and steady practice, yoga offers you the same fat-burning benefits as walking or running. It’s an effective exercise session for general fitness and health because it increases circulation, lowers cholesterol and aids digestive problems.
Stress busting
Stress is a fast-track way to cause illness and early ageing.
Yoga is an effective and natural way to reduce stress thanks to its combination of the three main stress-busting methods – deep breathing, relaxation and gentle exercise. These methods follow nature’s way of restoring the body and have a very positive effect.
Young at heart
Yoga will certainly ease your personal ageing journey in the physical sense by improving all the conditions and symptoms mentioned so far. But above all, yoga is a part of a lifestyle, and while it keeps your body supple and strong, it also helps you to relax and enjoy life to the full.
Yogic philosophy plays a great part in the benefits you can reap from yoga. It teaches you to be in tune with your body and it literally reduces stress chemicals all around your body and encourages you to feel more positive.
You might have avoided exercise for a while, or even a long time, but it’s never too late to begin seeing and feeling the incredibly positive results of yoga. Studies have repeatedly shown that older people who begin practicing yoga do slow down their own ageing process, and importantly, feel all the more fantastic for it.
If you want to use yoga to rejuvenate your body and mind, have a look at my about me page and browse my courses, workshops, weekend and holiday retreats. I am a qualified yoga teacher, trained by The International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres, a yoga organisation recognised worldwide.
More benefits
Apart from helping you to beat the winter blues, yoga also offers you:
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- Improvement of many medical conditions
- Relief from allergy and asthma symptoms
- Help in quitting addictions
