Health Problems that Yoga can Help

There are many reasons to encourage people to consider yoga as a way of maintaining your health; the one I love is that there is hardly any person that would not benefit from yoga.  Gender, age, athletic ability, time none of these are barriers to yoga.

It costs no money, as you can get an older yoga DVD or video from the library or borrow one from a friend and although a mat is advisable, you can get away without one if you do not have a mat.

As for clothes any loose comfortable clothes will do, some do yoga naked (not at the gym obviously) and I’ve done yoga at the gym in my jeans, once when I forgot my stuff.  I regularly start the day with a few sun salutations in my pajamas and do a couple of poses in the kitchen when I am waiting for the kettle to boil.

I love that there are people in there 80’s doing yoga as it encourages me to feel positive about my future health and the great possibilities for a healthy older age.  There are all different types of yoga and restorative yoga for people who are ill or recovering from illness is great.  They use cushions and blankets to support people in poses but most yoga teachers can help you adapt your yoga practice if you have any health problems.

In fact yoga has been proven in studies to help some conditions for example asthma and the regular relaxation at the end of yoga practice is great for people who suffer from stress or anxiety.  In my personal experience yoga has helped my asthma, greatly reduced the amount of medication that I take and cut the amount and severity of asthma attacks.  I know from visiting asthma forums that others have found the same benefits.