Silver Yoga Benefits Senior Women

Silver Yoga benefits senior women by significantly improving their physical and mental health (Journal of Clinical Nursing).

Silver Yoga Benefits Senior Women

How to Do Silver Yoga

A typical Silver Yoga class lasts between 55 and 70 minutes:

The first part of a Silver Yoga class consists of 8 warm-up exercises, followed by 5 minutes of Shavasana—the Corpse Pose.
During the second part of a Silver Yoga class, expect to do 7 Hatha yoga poses modified to accommodate seniors (or anyone with limited mobility).
For the third part of a Silver Yoga class, you relax for 10 minutes in corpse pose meditation, followed by 15 minutes of guided meditation.

The aforementioned class description is an example and might be different from a class you attend; obtaining a doctor’s approval and training with a qualified instructor is recommended.

Silver Yoga Study Participants

To prove senior women can improve their physical and mental health with yoga, the researchers worked with 14 cognitively alert elderly women who attended a senior center and lived independently or were “mildly dependent.” The women in this small study were 60-years-old or older and had never done any type of yoga before. The prescription was to attend one, 70-minute silver yoga class three times per week to see what kind of benefits there might be.

Silver Yoga Benefits Senior Women

The researchers found Silver Yoga has benefits for senior women. Completing a Silver Yoga class three times per week can improve physical and mental health. Specifically, the study’s results show the senior women’s

Body fat decreased by 0.12%
Height increased slightly
Systolic blood pressure, the top number of a blood pressure reading, significantly decreased from about 142.34 to about 122.93
Ability to balance on one foot in a modified tree pose for a period of time increased significantly from an average of 11.36 seconds to an average of 21.07 seconds
Range of motion in their shoulders and hips significantly increased
Depression slightly decreased
Sleep disturbances slightly decreased
Self-perception of their mental health slightly increased