1. Prevents cartilage and joint breakdown. Increases bone density and health
2. Increases blood flow
3. Cleanses lymph and immune systems
4. Ups your heart rate
5. Regulates your adrenal glands
6. Lowers blood sugar
7. Improves your balance
8. Yoga lengthens the size of telomeres of your DNA

Yoga for health and longevity is one of the most powerful ways you can build physical activity and mobility back into your daily life.

What Do You Consider A Long Life?

According to many scientific studies, “These days, while statistical life expectancy in the U.S. is about 80 years, living well into one’s 80s or 90s is a perfectly realistic expectation for many.” So, what is a long life and how do you define it? This is often a personal question to answer. Yoga can help you find your inner peace and build longevity so that you can extend your life (and improve your lifestyle) for years to come.

Does a long life include spending time walking down the street listening to your grandchildren, spend time with family and friends, or does it include you being able to spend thirty minutes to an hour in deep meditation with yoga poses that help you stretch your muscles and improve your mobility?

How long you live may not be the only number you want to measure… it may just be the depth of your experiences and how well you get to enjoy them.

Does Yoga Improve My Fitness Levels & Lifespan? 4 Reasons That Tell Us Yoga Increases Your Longevity

Yoga is such an important addition to your routine that it will improve your fitness levels and lifespan in ways you may not have realized.

Yoga benefits your body’s physical fitness in more ways than you can count but I’ve included a few below:

#1) Yoga Improves Your Resting Heart Rate

Your body may be at rest but your heart may continue to beat rapidly (even if you aren’t aware of how fast its beating at the time). Your body’s resting heart rate tells you how calm you are or how busy your body is pumping blood or whether your body is working in overdrive. If your heart isn’t able to reach a normal amount of beats of 60-100 per minute, this could wreak havoc on your ability to recover from a pose or strenuous activity. Consistently practicing yoga has been shown to help your body reach its normal state of equilibrium.

According to Johns Hopkins physicians, a “large number of studies show that yoga benefits many aspects of cardiovascular health,” says Hugh Calkins, M.D., director of the Cardiac Arrhythmia Service at Johns Hopkins. “There’s been a major shift in the last five years or so in the number of cardiologists and other professionals recognizing that these benefits are real.”

#2) Yoga Increases Your Body’s Endurance

Yoga helps you build endurance and the more times you practice yoga throughout the week, the more you will be able to handle complex poses or build up your endurance. Longevity is a very important benefit of sustained, consistent yoga practice and with that comes physician strength and improved health. Take the time to breathe slowly and really work  throughout your stretches and poses to get the maximum physical fitness your yoga routines can offer you.

#3) Yoga Helps You Get The Oxygen You Need 

Yoga helps your body’s lungs perform more effectively over time. Since longevity is your goal and physician fitness and healthy organs are an important part of that, you’ll want to do exercises that help you breathe and get more oxygen to your vital organs and heart.

Breathing & Longevity  

Yoga breathing techniques help the body stay healthy and avoid back and joint problems. Yoga has its beginnings in India and is a combination of physical postures, breathing, and meditation. There are several types of yoga breathing techniques. You can always find a breathing technique that fits your current needs and helps you live longer and healthier.

One of the most common techniques to build longevity through mindful breathing is to take a deep breath in and exhale for a set amount of time, then take a single breath in and exhale for a set amount of time, then take a single breath in and exhale for a set amount of time. The breathing techniques in yoga can teach you to relax and clear your mind.

#4) Correct Muscle Imbalance 

Have you heard “sitting is the new smoking”? Yoga can help you build muscle and correct your muscle imbalances. Can yoga help you build your muscles & correct imbalances? The simple answer is “yes”. Yoga can help you build muscle. But the degree to how effectively yoga can help you build muscle varies dramatically, based on not just the TYPE of yoga you’re practicing, but also the yoga instructor.

The truth is that ANY type of exercise can help you build muscle. You build strength as a result of the muscle-shaking and cramping that you feel when you do something physically demanding. This breaks down muscle fibers, sending a message to the body that basically says, “Hey can we add some muscle to the legs? They weren’t strong enough to make it through that hike yesterday, so we need some more muscle there.”

Some of yoga’s benefits also include:

• Hip strengtheners 
• Strengthening of the scapular stabilizing muscles
• Getting you the mobility and flexibility you’re lacking 

Why Fitness-Centered Yoga & Poses Help You To Live Longer & Feel Younger

Yoga Keeps You Alive & Active

Yoga is a great way to get in shape and stay in shape. It’s a great way to work out the muscles and to get a good sweat going without going too hard on yourself. Yoga changes us on a physical, mental and emotional level. Yoga is a powerful way to keep seniors (and anyone for that matter) moving and in their best shape: alive and active.

Yoga helps you to:

• Keep your muscles strong
• Retain your body’s elasticity
• Exceed your body’s normal range of motion
• Build endurance and strength

Yoga For Longevity: How To Begin Practicing Yoga As You Age

Yoga is a wonderful activity to engage in if you want to reap the physical benefits and increase your longevity. It helps alleviate lower back, knee, or neck pain. This is a physical activity which keeps you strong, limber, and focused on what you’re doing. If you’re not very flexible, no worries – yoga is also a mental exercise.

Best of all, if you’re practicing on a regular basis, you’ll find that you’ll sleep better and have an easier time recovering from jetlag. It can also serve as a spiritual practice, and many people find this offers them a way to connect with themselves and with their inner selves.

Remember to start slow and follow my routines (it’s okay to gradually build up intensity on the mat). Make it a social exercise (invite a few friends over and practice routines together). Remember, It’s never too late to start a new activity, even if you’re 50 or older. Begin by consulting with a doctor before beginning a new practice. If you decide to start a new practice, this is a great one to try. It will help you stay in shape and improve your endurance. Practicing yoga for just one hour a week could reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer, which are two of the leading causes of death.

Yoga will help you live a longer, healthier life!

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