Short-term Practice of Yoga is Good for the Heart

As I familiarize myself and get comfortable with my new retiree status, I continue to explore the senior citizen lifestyle, focusing on exercise for the elderly.  I have discovered that more and more people are taking up yoga, as discussed in this post. So now I move forward with finding out specific benefits of yoga on the average senior citizen.

Kundalini teacher practicing Pranayama

I came across this study which showed that the short-term practice of yoga produced beneficial effects on the cardiovascular functions of the study's participants. Researchers from the Department of Physiology of the S. Nijalinggappa Medical College in Bagalkot, Karnataka, India found that after practicing pranayama and meditation for two weeks, a significant reduction in resting pulse rate, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and mean arterial blood pressure was observed in all participants. Furthermore, the response was similar in both genders, both age groups, less than 40 years old and more than 40 years old, and regardless of BMI. Pranayama and meditation are two main techniques of yoga. In short, yoga is good for everyone's heart, including senior citizens. 

The results of this study gave me another reason to include yoga or similar balance training type of activity in the exercise regimen that I am designing for my self. First reason cited in the previous blog post is that it does not require fancy or special exercise equipment for seniors apart from an activity tracker and practical activewear and comfortable shoes.

I have also started looking for videos or DVDs of yoga for seniors, and I'm quite surprised that there are more than a few available online. I'll read some reviews so I'll get an idea if these are any good.

And I'll continue to investigate other benefits of yoga on the elderly. Meanwhile, here's a cat doing his own version of yoga out on the pasture.

yoga cat