Month: October 2019

Yoga; the fountain of youth?!

Yoga poses like the downward dog, inversions, and eagle arms are a struggle for many of us but not for the yoga teacher who’s 101-years-old.

Tao Porchon-Lynch is the world’s oldest yoga instructor and shows no sign of slowing down as she embraces her second century with the same can-do attitude that has shaped her life.

She says the secret to longevity is to live every day full of the “joy of life”… and she has no plans to stop teaching yoga!! What an inspiration.

Yoga has many benefits for all of us, no matter what our age and stage but, what I love about it is that it’s accessible to us, even as we grow older. When I was asked to teach a module on a yoga teaching course, themed Yoga through the aging process, I started to research this in more depth. And, I was astonished by what I found. So, if like me, you’re planning on continuing your yoga journey well into your golden years, here’s some inspiration to keep you going.

1.Yoga Increases Anti-Aging Hormones in the Brain

In yoga, we have a wide range of asanas, or postures. to choose from. One of the most important postures, in my opinion, is mediation.

recent study from the American Board of Anti-Aging Medicine revealed that, “Regular deep meditation dramatically affects production of three important hormones related to increased longevity, stress, and enhanced well-being: cortisol, DHEA, and melatonin.”
DHEA is known as the “anti-aging hormone.” As we get older our body produces less of it, but when we practice yoga and meditation, we become our own fountain of youth! We naturally provide our bodies with this hormone as well as buffering our bodies from cortisol, the stress hormone.

Melatonin is the hormone that helps us get quality sleep. Increased melatonin due to meditation leads to increased well-being during the day and tranquil sleep at night!

2. Yoga Helps Us Cultivate a More Flexible, Limber Body

One of the more obvious benefits of yoga is a more flexible and limber body. As we get older, our bodies can stiffen, which begins a negative domino effect where we inevitably suffer the consequences of aches, pains, injury, fatigue, and more.

According to research, “At least half of the age-related changes to muscles, bones and joints are caused by disuse.”

If we begin this negative domino effect caused by disuse, we could worsen our posture and send undesired weight into our joints. But we can avoid all of this with a consistent yoga practice. Our practice allows the body to move, stretch, and lengthen out the spine, which results in a younger, more flexible and limber body.

Yoga, the union of mind and body, has many obvious benefits. Today, let’s talk about one of the more subtle, but extremely desirable, benefits of a consistent yoga practice. Yep! We’re talking about how yoga can help prevent, and even reverse, aging.

In life we can often feel as though time is slipping away from us, that there aren’t enough hours in the day, or that we’re constantly trying to “catch up.”

However, when we practice yoga, we reinforce principles and practices that can help us reverse the clock not only physically, but mentally as well.
3. YOGA ENCOURAGES RETENTION OF MUSCLE MASS

 Muscle mass is lost naturally during the aging process. But with a consistent yoga practice, we can also achieve anti-aging benefits by encouraging the body to retain this muscle mass.

A well-named study, NAMASTE (Novel Approaches to Maintaining Muscle Mass and Strength), conducted a study using two groups of people.

The first group hadn’t exercised in at least a year, and the other group was comprised of yogis that practiced at least twice a week for over a year. The study revealed that, “The yogis had lower rates of protein synthesis and breakdown, which translates into more efficient muscle mass maintenance.”

4. Light Mind

As yogis, we learn to combine mindfulness and awareness in our everyday lives. As we travel through life, stress naturally pops up and, sometimes, we need a certain amount of stress to propel us forward into action. Other times, stress can become negative and unhealthy, leaving our body on the receiving end of that negativity.

As one WebMD article on Health notes, “Stress becomes negative when a person faces continuous challenges without relief or relaxation between challenges. Distress can lead to physical problems including headaches, upset stomach, elevated blood pressure, chest pain and trouble sleeping.”

All of these distress symptoms could lead to serious health problems that could be potentially fatal if not treated. We use yoga to treat our distress symptoms by learning how to relax amidst challenge. This anti-aging practice allows our minds to return to being light and free, something that can now be achieved at any age.

5. Yoga Heals Your Past

 One of my favorite benefits of yoga is how it can heal the past. A lot of times, past problems and what we view as failures can rob us of the present moment as well as future opportunities.

I heard someone recently say that, “Your past lessons are not your life sentences.” When we unify our mind and body through yoga, we know this to be true. Yoga reverses the aging clock by healing the past. We acknowledge it’s over with, and how it has helped us get to the present moment while allowing us to see the truth in the Now.

As Eckhart Tolle quotes, “Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have.” Through yoga and meditation, we realize this to be true as we bring youth and vitality to our lives.

 

Let it go!

LET IT GO AND STOP RUMINATING

It’s something we’re all familiar with. There’s been an argument, an accident, or something else happen that – whilst unpleasant – is over and in the past. Everyone is okay and you should have moved on, yet all you seem able to do is replay it in your head, worrying and fretting about what you could have done differently.

“The process of dwelling on past events that can’t be changed is called rumination,” says psychologist Niels Eék. “Some people are more likely to experience this than others, especially if they have an anxiety-prone personality.”

When people ruminate, they overthink or obsess about situations or life events. Examples include repeating in your mind negative experiences in the past, replaying conversations, dwelling on injuries or injustices or asking seemingly unanswerable questions such as “why me?” The key in all instances of rumination is that the person in question gets ‘stuck’ on a single subject, experience or emotion.

Rumination can be twofold. If you find that looking back over the past and assessing various situations can give you answers and closure, then the effect can be positive. However, if you find that you’re repeatedly going over and over the same situation without getting anywhere, both your private and public life may be affected and your mental health could suffer. Niels says:

“Rumination can have a number of negative effects on your mental health, is associated with anxiety disorders and depression and can even act as a cause for these conditions. Researchers at Yale University have been studying this phenomenon and found that women are more likely to ruminate than men, which also explains why women have a higher risk of depression. Additionally, the research also found that rumination prevents people from acknowledging and dealing with their emotions, as they try to understand the situation instead of the feelings that the situation has caused.”

  1. Ask yourself: Is it worth it?

If you find that your mind is fixated on a certain situation, decide if the dwelling is actually worth your time.

“Ask yourself if looking over a certain situation will help you accept it, learn from it and find closure. If the answer is no, you should make a conscious effort to shelve the issue and move on from it.”

  1. Set aside time

The thing with niggling worries is that they often remain at the back of our minds, always there but never given our full attention. By dedicating time to whatever it is that’s bothering you, it’ll be easier to face the problem once and for all.

“Whenever you start dwelling, write the thought down on a piece of paper and dedicate a time in the day to think about it, ideally a few hours later. This will give you some distance from the dwelling, which will likely mean that it won’t bother you as much in a few hours, as well as allowing you to focus on other, more important things throughout the day.”

  1. Worst case scenario

If you are constantly dwelling on something that happened, imagine the worst case scenario and how you would deal with it.

“It may sound like a terrible idea, but actually, having a viable solution ready will leave you feeling calmer and less anxious, as well as pleasantly surprise you if things turn out better than expected, which is often the case.”

  1. Find the cause

It’s possible that there is a pattern in your worries, and this means you can help identify potential causes and use practice preventative measures.

“For many of us, rumination will occur after a trigger, so it is important to identify what it is. For example, if you have to give a presentation at work and the last one you did didn’t go to plan, this can cause rumination and anxiety. Once you identify this trigger, make sure to set aside some time to assess your previous mistakes and make sure that you don’t repeat them again, which will then remove the stimulus of rumination.”

  1. Focus on the positives

More often than not, when we find ourselves dwelling, it is usually on negative thoughts, so a great solution for this is to focus on something positive in order to offset these worries.

“Every day, write down 2-3 things that make you happy and think of the list whenever you feel yourself starting to dwell. Sharing these with friends and family can also help reinforcement and prevent you from focusing on the negatives.”

  1. Communicate

A problem shared is a problem halved, which is why it’s important to get things off your chest when you feel they are weighing you down.

“A great way to stop yourself dwelling is to talk to a friend or loved one. Whenever we ruminate, we tend to lose perspective, only seeing certain aspects of the situation. Talking to a friend will not only make you feel better, but it can also provide a different viewpoint, thus actually resolving the problem.”

  1. Distractions

Taking on a task that requires your full attention can provide some much-needed relief from repetitive thoughts. Before you know it, you’ll have gone a whole day without ruminating once.

“Doing a chore you’ve been putting off, going for a walk or even listening to some music can help. Focusing on something else for as little as ten minutes can shift your focus and ease anxiety caused by dwelling.”

  1. Practice mindfulness

Mindfulness is a mental state achieved by focusing on one’s awareness of the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts and bodily sensations. Anyone can do it, and it can be invaluable as a therapeutic technique.

“One of the main problems with rumination is that we don’t even realise that we are doing it, letting the negative and obsessive thoughts take over our attention. This is where mindfulness can be very useful – taking as little as three minutes to focus on your breathing and actually focus on what is bothering you, thus bringing you closer to a solution.”

  1. Learn to let go

It’s easier said than done, but learning to let go is one of the most important steps to take if you want to stop dwelling.

“Accept that everyone makes mistakes and that they are in the past, and only take away what you learnt from the situation. While difficult at first, the more you practice compassion and understanding, the easier this process will become.”