| The young are coming to yoga centers with the aim | | | | of aerobic exercise and stress reduction, including |
| to lose flab. But the elderly are not far behind, they | | | | yoga, combined with a low-fat vegetarian diet, |
| want their youth back as well. They feel fit and their | | | | stabilized, and in some cases, reversed arterial |
| ailments, many of which arise from lifestyle problems | | | | blockage. |
| and neglect at home, are getting resolved. Yoga | | | | Yoga indeed comes with a lot of health benefits. Anuj |
| boosts their self-esteem they say. While some call it | | | | Kumar, yoga trainer at Bharat Thakur's artistic yoga |
| 'addiction', others say it has become a habit akin to | | | | institute says: "Yoga is perhaps the only form of |
| having one's daily meals, which they cannot afford to | | | | activity that massages all the internal glands and |
| skip. | | | | organs of the body in a thorough manner, including |
| Yoga is the way to a happy, healthy and a long life for | | | | those such as the prostate that hardly get |
| the elderly, say experts. "Several studies have shown | | | | externally stimulated during our entire lifetime." The |
| that yoga has prevented several lifestyle diseases, | | | | stimulation and massage of the organs keeps away |
| which come with ageing namely cardiac, | | | | disease and provide a forewarning at the first possible |
| respiratory and bone diseases," says Dr Subhash | | | | instance of a likely onset of a disorder, he adds. |
| Manchanda, former head, cardiology, at the All India | | | | Yoga is a sure-shot cure for asthma. For instance, |
| Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and vice chairman, | | | | 54-year old Roshni Menon, who could not imagine living |
| World Academy of Spiritual Sciences. | | | | without her inhaler, now gets along fine without it. "I |
| Confidence booster | | | | have been doing yoga for the last four and half years |
| Most senior citizens bury themselves in their homes | | | | and I have never had to use my inhaler," she says |
| and gradually start losing confidence post retirement. | | | | happily. |
| Without a permanent circle of friends - the loss of the | | | | Fifty-two year-old Darshan Kumar agrees with Menon. |
| office circle is a big loss they begin to suffer from | | | | For him, yoga is a way of life. "I can't imagine life |
| low self-esteem. Some start feeling purposeless once | | | | without it. Earlier I was unable to read or pick up things |
| their chilDr.en move out of the home for higher studies | | | | located at a distance of one meter. I got my eyesight |
| or jobs. Yoga gives such elders a new lease of life, a | | | | back after I did suryanamaskar for about two years," |
| renewed sense of worth and a fresh spurt of | | | | he adds. |
| confidence. Fifty-nine year-old Amita Kumar, for | | | | Look younger |
| example, found it difficult to carry on alone. Amita was | | | | Of Anuj Kumar's 400 students, about 25 per cent are |
| distraught and directionless when she lost her husband | | | | above 50. "It is very difficult to determine their age, as |
| 18 months ago. Thanks to her regular yoga sessions at | | | | all of them look young and gorgeous," he says. |
| Bharat Thakur's artistic yoga classes, she is not just | | | | "Yoga has changed me completely. It has pushed |
| more confident but also healthier today. Yoga has | | | | back my age by at least 15 years. I have not just shed |
| enhanced her quality of life. She says, she's 'addicted' | | | | weight but have also lost 4.5 inches on my waist," |
| to it. | | | | says Roshni. |
| Dressed in a white shirt dotted with blue flowers and | | | | The story of VV Menon is similar. The tall, broad-built, |
| body-hugging gray slacks, Amita says: "Yoga gets my | | | | white-haired gentleman does not reveal his age at first. |
| day started. I not only feel younger but there is an | | | | "You can put my age as 60. Do I look any older?" he |
| added enthusiasm in everything I do." The daily dose of | | | | asks with a smile. Menon who is in his seventies, has |
| yoga gives her the required energy for voluntary social | | | | been a yoga enthusiast for a very long time. "Most |
| work. Amita works for the uplift of slum girls. | | | | people in Delhi have to battle with a lot of health |
| "Yoga works on the principle of | | | | problems as soon as they hit 50, but I have never |
| psycho-neuro-immunology. There are a large number | | | | really had to face any," he adds. "I can do as many as |
| of hormones which are released when we are happy," | | | | 20-30 suryanamaskars at a go. My blood pressure, |
| says Dr SC Mahapatra, additional professor, | | | | sugar levels and cholesterol levels are normal," he |
| department of physiology at AIIMS. "Psychological | | | | adds. |
| benefits cannot be ruled out although this can't be | | | | "It is scientifically proven that yoga can delay the |
| measured by science." | | | | biomarkers - graying of hair, wrinkles etc. Yoga helps |
| All-round health | | | | people slow down ageing. The elderly look young even |
| Is yoga only about de-stressing or does it have health | | | | at 60," says Dr. Manchanda. Yoga works in other |
| benefits? A few studies offer hope. In 2008, a study | | | | subtle ways, say experts. "Even people with rigid |
| conducted over a two-month period on 65 year-olds in | | | | bodies start experiencing a remarkable flexibility in |
| the US reveals that Iyengar Yoga showed significant | | | | even those parts which they have not consciously |
| improvement in their balance and stability. The 24 | | | | worked upon," says Anuj Kumar. This means that |
| elderly women not only looked fitter, but were more | | | | yoga helps loosen up the body and even acts upon |
| confident when walking and were less likely to fall. | | | | areas that have not gone through the drill. When all the |
| Another US study conducted in 1990 of patients who | | | | limbs are exercised, they work in harmony to create a |
| had coronary heart disease, indicated that a regimen | | | | situation where flexibility is a guarantee, he adds. |