Yoga is not a miracle. It can’t stop you from getting older. But feeling more flexible, looking fresher, and adding more years to your life — that you can definitely achieve with regular yoga practice!
When you check the biographies of famous yoga teachers of the past, you can see most of them had lived very long lives! Let’s see how exactly yoga makes you feel and look younger.
Yoga strengthens spine
You are as young as your spine is flexible. Yoga has long been known as a great way to fix one’s posture. Poor posture doesn’t only cause back problems, it also makes you look older. Practicing yoga asanas also strengthens back muscles and releases tension in the shoulders. And since yoga increases body awareness, you get less likely to make movements that may harm your back.
Yoga and meditation improve memory
The recent research carried out by the University of California proved that yoga and meditation are more effective for fighting the early signs of Alzheimer’s than memory enhancement exercises. The experiment lasted 12 weeks and 25 people over 55 years old participated. In addition to Kundalini Yoga practice, participants also meditated.
Yoga relieves stress
As you are aging, there are even more things to worry about: you start regretting things you haven’t done, you can’t make peace with the way your appearence changes, you have more problems with health. And regular yoga practice is just what you need to fight stress as it normalizes your breath and teaches you to live in the moment and enjoy your life at any age.
Inversions massage internal organs
Inverted poses massage our internal organs, and detoxify them. As we age, our internal organs get droopy and inverted poses slow down this process.
Yoga improves overall health
It has been scientifically proven that regular exercise increases the level of somatotropin (growth hormone responsible for the growth of tissues such as skin and muscles) and androgen (hormone among everything responsible for heart health and the immune system). The study held in 2014 showed that yoga practice has a similar effect. 45 people were doing yoga and meditation for 12 weeks and demonstrated the increased levels of these hormones, so important for healthy aging. The participants also considerably lowered their body mass index.
So how to slow down aging with yoga? Just keep practicing, make meditation an integral part of your daily routine and you’ll live a longer and healthier life.
Article from: https://yoga.com/article/how-to-slow-down-aging-with-yoga
