Old age comes with many health issues. It starts with problems in body movement, bad memory, and crampy muscles. But this does not mean there is no solution to the problem. Ever heard of Chair Yoga? It is one of the safest and easiest ways you can maintain good health and remain active during later years.
Chair yoga is the prime example of the belief that “yoga is for everyone”. Practising this yoga style under the guidance of an experienced yoga teacher helps a lot. For starters, it improves your digestion, maintains blood pressure, and relieves fatigue. In simple terms, Chair yoga is the best yoga for elderly beginners style you can learn.
But there is a lot more this yoga style does. The information below has everything you need to know about this yoga style.
The Benefits of Chair Yoga
Chair yoga is the easiest style of yoga. Daily practice of this yoga style offers you some major health benefits.
Improves Flexibility
The first benefit of chair yoga is its ability to improve your range of mobility and flexibility. Chair yoga poses include twisting, bending, and stretching. These help you relieve muscle tension and stiffness. If you want to improve flexibility then make chair yoga a part of your daily routine.
Improves Body Balance
Do you know the reason behind poor body balance in later years? It is improper functioning of the vestibular system. Yoga for elderly beginners improves your focus, strength, agility, and alignment. This reduces the risk of injuries due to accidental falls in old age.
Improves Sleep Quality
A poor sleeping pattern is the result of many factors. These include an imbalance with melatonin, growth hormones, or a lack of exercise. There are many chair yoga poses that help you get back that lost sleep. These improve your sleeping pattern in quality and quantity.
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Improves Mood
Yoga for elderly beginners comes in handy during later years. With age, you experience more isolation and mood swings. This leads to anxiety, stress, or depression in the long run. Chair yoga calms down your mind by improving mental clarity and mindfulness. This reduces stress, and irritation and gives you a cheerful mood.
To reap these benefits you should know which chair yoga poses to practice. Yoga experts have come up with some powerful chair yoga asanas to help you do that.
Chair Yoga Poses for Seniors
Given below are the 3 best Chair yoga asanas you can practice to stay fit in your senior years.
Chair Mountain Pose
The Chair Mountain pose is a beginner-level chair yoga pose. You do this yoga asana by keeping both knees bent at 90 degrees. You engage the core muscles and maintain a straight spine throughout the practice.
Steps to Practice
- Sit on the front edge of a chair. Keep both feet on the floor.
- Keep your feet hip-width apart and ankles under your knees.
- Keep your spine straight and tall. Place both arms by your body’s side.
- Inhale. Open your chest and lengthen the spine.
- Draw in your navel towards the spine.
- Exhale. Push down the sit bone into the chair.
- Inhale. Stretch both arms by the side.
- Rotate your hands to the front.
- Exhale. Roll your shoulders down.
- Relax your arms by the body’s side.
Chair Forward Bend Pose
The Chair Forward Bend pose is the best yoga for elderly beginners exercise. It is an effective chair yoga asana to stretch your arms, legs, hips, and abdominal muscles. This yoga asana improves your digestion, relieves lower back pain, and removes fatigue.
Steps to Practice
- Start in the seated mountain pose.
- Keep both hands on your thighs. Maintain a straight back.
- Inhale. Lengthen your spine.
- Exhale. Lean forward.
- Keep your abdomen pressed against your thighs.
- Slide both hands below to the floor.
- Hold this position with deep breaths.
- Inhale. Come up to the starting position.
You can learn this yoga for elderly beginners asana from an experienced yoga teacher at a certified yoga school.
Chair Spinal Twist
The Chair Spinal Twist is a variation of the Half Lord of Fishes Pose. It provides your digestive system, kidneys, and liver a good squeeze.
Steps to Practice
- Sit sideways in a chair. Keep the back of the chair on the right side.
- Maintain an erect spine. Hold the back of the chair with both hands.
- Inhale.
- While exhaling gently twist your torso towards the back of the chair.
- Hold this position as long as you can then release.
- Change sides on the chair. Repeat it by twisting your torso towards the left.
Chair yoga is the most gentle and safe way for you to practice yoga in later years. You should look for an experienced yoga teacher to learn this yoga style.
Conclusion
Do you want to stay fit and active during your senior years? Join a certified yoga school to learn this yoga for elderly beginners from experienced yoga teachers.