Active Agers: Have you thought about taking a Yoga Class?

I can’t tell you how often people call us and say – I’d like to take yoga, but I’m older now – and I can’t twist into all those crazy positions like “young” people .    My goal is to stay healthy and keep moving!    We have just the class right now on the Rivercity Pilates schedule!   It’s called “Gentle Yoga”.   

Here are four reasons to try Yoga at Rivercity Pilates, from an article written by personal trainer Debbie Abbott in Great Britain and a testimonial from a current 65 yo client who is a “regular” in our Gentle Yoga classes ! 

1. Yoga makes our bones denser.   This is big, because Osteoporosis is rampant. The main sites for developing osteoporosis are the wrist, spine, ribs, and hip.  They’re vulnerable because most forms of exercise don’t stress these areas very much, and general living with no exercise means almost no stress at all on these sites. Planks, twists and other fun moves (aka, “asanas”) both load the bones and create a pulling/tugging of the muscles-tendons-ligaments that attach to those bones.  When that happens, the message the bone gets is, “We need to build.” 
2. Yoga creates a hormonal-chemical concoction in your blood that’s conducive to “rest, digest, heal, and grow.”   Life often creates a hormonal-chemical concoction that’s conducive to “fight or flight,” which make us fat, sad, and tired. This is big, and this is important. The hormonal soup we swim in very much determines Who. We.  Are.  We have the ability to control that soup, but it takes intentional thought and determination. 
3. Yoga teaches us to focus on one thing at a time.  Yoga was actually created thousands of years ago specifically for that reason.  Focusing has bigger benefits than you might imagine.  Short, choppy attention spans and difficulty concentrating are associated with anxiety, depression, and the inability to learn and perform tasks well.  Did you know the average U.S. attention span has shrunk to 9 seconds?  That’s not good! Yoga is both movement and “forced” focus. I challenge you to think of your to-do list, or a problem, while holding dancer pose; it’s not happening. These poses take too much concentration! Movement and focus stimulate brain growth, or “neuro-plasticity” in a good way!  When we practice yoga, we’re literally re-wiring our brain to be positive, productive, creative, and much, much less scattered.  
4. Yoga increases flexibility and balance tremendously, more than most sports.   The ranges of motion and the poses that we practice in yoga are pretty unique to yoga.  Can you fold over and touch your toes?  Can you stand on one leg for a minute?  Can you squat with no pain?  Can you easily get on and off the floor? These are normal movements of life.  Our body, just like our mind, is a “use it or lose it” organism.