ANTI-AGEING BENEFITS OF YOGA

ANTI-AGEING BENEFITS OF YOGA

Regardless of what may happen, we are all going to age. However, it is how we age both mentally and physically that will affect our quality of life. According to yoga philosophy it is the flexibility of the spine that determines the age. You only have to look at yoga gurus – both past and present – to see that a regular yoga practice has a huge effect on the ageing process.

The body is supple and mobile and the brain remains active well into old age. Many yoga teachers look more youthful than their birth age and remain “young at heart”, living active lives well into their 90’s. The current trend for a quick fix under the surgeons scalpel is just that; a “quick fix” to make one look youthful on the outside, while the rest of the body is degenerating in the usual way. Yoga and a yogic lifestyle allows the body to slow the ageing process down.

WHAT ARE THE ANTI-AGEING BENEFITS OF YOGA?

Stress is a major factor in ageing. By learning to control and use your breath (pranayama) to help control stressful situations, you are able to breathe more deeply and remain calm. BKS Iyengar puts this beautifully:

“Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured and endure what cannot be cured”

A yoga practice is about finding a different way to deal with stress through postures, breathing techniques, relaxation and meditation. A good diet will often follow a regular yoga routine. Once a student develops more control through the yoga practice healthier, choices seem to come naturally. Yoga takes many forms, and you can take it up at any time Even after many years of a sedentary lifestyle you can take up and enjoy yoga.

Deep breathing (pranayama) fills every cell in the body with fresh oxygenated blood. Inversions, where the head is lower than the heart, have a relaxing effect on the heart and lungs; once again bringing fresh blood to the upper body and massaging the thyroid and parathyroid glands, thus soothing the nervous system.

Twists and forward bends are very good for detoxifying for the body. Internal organs such as the liver, spleen and pancreas are toned and massaged. A sluggish digestive system (constipation) will hang onto waste matter. Many yoga poses encourage elimination, therefore freeing up the bowel and keeping it healthy and free from disease.

The skin and the eyes look more radiant, the body moves more freely, the mind is active, but not on alert… All this without stepping inside a doctor’s practice! Why not discover the anti-ageing benefits of yoga for yourself!

GENTLE LIMBERING SEQUENCES

GENTLE LIMBERING SEQUENCES

Below is a short video featuring a gentle limbering sequence. Gentle limbering sequences are particularly suitable for pregnant women. They may also be beneficial for those who suffer with back pain.

NETI POT

NETI POT

When I was training to be a yoga teacher, one of the 6 purification techniques taught to us was Jala Neti. This is also called Jaaneti or simply Neti. Purification techniques are sometimes performed as a way of preparing the body for a yoga practice. Whenever the neti pots came out, I would disappear. I always needed to be somewhere else at that moment in time. I had many techniques to avoid it: the bathroom, the water fountain, the shop… Literally anything but the neti.

Pouring a saline solution up my hooter was really not for me and I have avoided it right up to today. I have got a steaming cold and, as a result, I now have sinus pain. So, I have decided to give it another go. Talk about waiting until your back is against the wall! So, I rushed to the Sivananda yoga studio nearby and bought myself a ceramic neti pot and salt. I only had one photographic image to guide me as the instructions were in German! Although I did not find it as unpleasant as some people describe, it was not as bad as I remembered. So I will use it over the next few days to see if it helps alleviate the problem.

Neti purification basically means pouring a saline solution up one nostril and allowing it to pour out of the other and then repeating the procedure on the other side. When I told my teenage son what I was doing he replied: “Urghhh… that’s butters!”, which – as I am informed – is teenage speak for “I don’t think that’s very nice”.

You will be grateful to know that I do not have a photograph of me performing neti. However, I have attached a photo of the aforementioned pot itself.