5 Yoga Poses to Help Maintain your Health

By: Matthew Funeral Home
Friday, June 5, 2020

Yoga is a great way to improve your health. Yoga offers you a good opportunity to stretch your muscles and work on balance; which are both important for staying healthy as you age. 1 in 4 seniors will experience a fall each year. This is often due to poor balance and muscle strength. Even doing a few beginner poses each day can help you maintain healthy muscles and good balance. There are plenty of good resources online for free yoga videos, but this article will explore 5 yoga poses that are great for beginners; while working on a variety of muscles.

Before Starting Yoga

Ask your physician before starting any new exercise regimen. You will most likely get the OK for yoga, because it is often low-risk, and good for older individuals. Be sure not to push yourself. Yoga is about peaceful exercise and self-care, and is not usually a heavy workout. 
Consider purchasing a yoga mat. They help cushion the body during poses, and provide traction to reduce the risk of injury. If you do not have great balance, consider looking up chair yoga; a type of exercise that uses a chair for helping with balance during poses.

Mountain Pose

The Mountain Pose is the starting position of most standing yoga poses. It is a way of standing tall with your feet together at the toes. This pose may seem simple, but it helps promote balance and proper posture. It can also assist with deep breathing.

Warrior II Pose

The Warrior II Pose helps with hip muscles and hip flexibility. Maintaining proper form does not require a lot of practice or balance, but can strengthen the quadricep muscles in your arms. This pose opens the chest and lungs, and is a great pose for improving circulation.

Tree Pose

The Tree Pose works on maintaining balance; while stretching the thighs, groin, torso, and shoulders. It helps strengthen the calves and ankles, and can help build abdominal muscles.

Bridge Pose

The Bridge Pose is done on the floor. It helps with stress and improves digestion. This pose opens up the chest, heart and shoulders. It helps strengthen the back, glutes, ankles, and legs. The Bridge Pose stretches the chest, neck, shoulders and spine; while stimulating the lungs and thyroid.

Cobra Pose

Lastly, the Cobra Pose is also done from the floor. This pose helps stretch the back and spine, and reduces stiffness. It is a very popular pose for reducing back pain associated with desk jobs. The cobra pose elevators the mood and invigorates the heart. It also helps build shoulder and arm muscles.

These poses, and many others, can be a great start for beginners. Yoga can be a good way to help maintain your body as you age. Even doing yoga for just 10-20 minutes a day can help reduce stress and make you feel healthier.
For almost 50 years, Matthew Funeral Home has been serving the Staten Island community. We can help with almost every aspect of your loved one’s memorial service. Our family is here to serve yours, every step of the way.

Leave a comment
Name*:
Email:
Comment*:
Please enter the numbers and letters you see in the image. Note that the case of the letters entered matters.

Comments

Please wait

Previous Posts

Winter Safety for the Elderly

Winter is almost here, and with cold weather comes safety risks for elderly individuals. Between icy paths and freezing temperatures, it can be important to help your older loved ones stay safe in ...

Memorial Services for Veterans

As Veteran’s Day approaches, we wanted to share information on veteran memorial services and funerals. A big part of planning a funeral for veterans or servicemembers is the memorialization of thei...

Choosing a Casket for Your Loved One

Choosing a casket is an important part of the funeral process. Many families choose the casket after their loved one has passed, but some people choose their casket ahead of time. This article will...

Grief and Tragic Backstories in Media

From superheroes to romantic comedies, many movies and TV shows rely on tragedy to help us connect or sympathize with characters. Grief of some form, or a tragic past leads a character on a path. E...

Alcohol Use and Coping with Grief

While in grief, many people turn to things that can comfort or distract them. It is not uncommon for some people to reach for alcohol in this way. For many people, alcohol can serve as a way to avo...

Apathy and Grief

On this blog, we often talk about how grief is a complicated emotion, and how everyone experiences it differently. However, we don’t often talk about grief and apathy. Apathy is a state of numbness...

Etiquette for Donating In a Loved One's Name

Some individuals or their families request donations to charity in place of flowers during the bereavement period. Most families will appreciate the donation in their loved one’s name. Especially i...

Grief and Losing Online Friends

In our technology-based world, more and more people have developed friendships completely in cyberspace. Consistent communication with gaming partners, online community members, and more allows us ...

Sending Sympathy Meals to a Loved One

When a friend or family member passes away, it is a common practice to send sympathy meals to the immediate family. Sympathy meals show your support for the family while providing them with food. W...

Validating Feelings of Grief

Grief is one of the most complex and misunderstood emotions for people to experience. One way to help your loved one cope with their grief is to validate their feelings. Supporting a loved one who ...