I don’t bend like rubber, but I squat, jump, lift heavy objects, play a sport, and climb many flights of stairs without breaking a sweat. And that’s because I do yoga.
If you’re a woman over 50 like I am, it’s likely that you’re beginning to feel the locked hips and stiffness. Yoga is not just yoga, it helps us in our everyday quality of life, especially as we age. Let’s look around us, we’re seeing our parents struggle with everyday tasks, some of the 60+ people have begun restricting their movements, slowing down or reducing travel. I see women in their 40s and 50s face difficulty in keeping normal pace of walk because of poor stamina and lower body strength. If you’re passionate about tennis or golf, the rigidity in your elbow can handicap your game.
You don’t want to be that person.
In my yogic sessions for agility, I do the below tests for physical and mental agility.
- Physical agility: How many times a person can sit and stand from a chair in one minute. Above 17 means you’re agile. Anything below that means that you need strengthening, hip opening and leg strengthening.
- Mental agility: How long you can balance on each leg. If it’s less than 20 seconds, your brain and memory are ageing faster than your turn on chronological age.
On International Yoga Day, read about the benefits of just 5 asanas below and practice them at least four times a week to experience being able to:
- Spring up from the sofa in a second
- Get up from the toilet seat in a second without support
- Lift things from the floor without putting pressure on your back or hamstrings
- Climb stairs easily
- Help someone bring their cabin luggage down in a flight
- Get up from the floor easily
- Improve your golf, tennis, badminton, basketball or cricket game
Baddha konasana: Jammed hips are the root cause of not being able to sit and stand fast, experiencing frequent lower back or sciatica attacks, having difficulty getting up from the floor, and pain in the upper thigh or groin area. Also known as the butterfly pose, there is no better hip opening for jammed hips than this. If you can’t do it sitting, lie down and put your feet in a butterfly position. Flap both legs until the knees touch each other and then bring them down. If your knees don’t touch the bed or your mat, you can put cushions to support your knees. Do this 20 times a day, every day.
Agility benefits: Helps your hips open and makes you start getting up from the sofa, toilet seat and floor easily. If you can’t squat, this will help you condition your hips for the same with regular daily practice. Reduces sciatica and lower back pain.
Supta Matsyendrasana: This lying down spinal twist asana opens up your lower back and hips, releasing stiffness, and tiredness and helps stretch your entire spine to release anxiety and stress. Lie on your back with your knees bent over your hips. Drop your legs to one side, while keeping them together. As you do this, keep your shoulders pressed straight to the ground. If you are have dropped your knees to the left side, use your left hand to hold your knees to keep them in their place, and extend the right arm straight towards the other side. Hold this for 10 seconds, repeat on other side. Repeat five times on each side.
Agility benefits: Makes lifting things from the floor easier, releases back stiffness so sitting and standing up is smoother, rejuvenates after a tiring day at work, great warmup before any exercise including cricket, tennis, golf as it reduces the sudden jerk injuries in swing.
Bhujangasana: The cobra pose is great for those with hypothyroidism, strengthens the spine, arms and upper body. Lie down on your stomach on the mat or bed. Stretch your legs away from your body as you pull your arms in adjacent to your shoulders. Allow your toes and chin to touch the floor and point your toes out. Breathe in deeply as you raise your chest upward. Hold the pose for 15-30 seconds and slowly exhale. Rest for 15 seconds. Repeat 5 times with a break in between each pose. Increase hold time to 1 min in a few weeks.
Practice only with arm pressure initially. Don’t stretch more than you can or you can injure your back. Once you have done this for a few days, increase to putting pressure on hands and lifting up.
Agility benefits: Strengthens your shoulders, arms and makes it easier for you to bring down heavy objects and not look helplessly for assistance, increases spine flexibility and un-jams shoulders. Great for Sportspersons who want to up their intensity of hits in tennis, cricket and golf.
Gomukhasana: This cow face asana helps release a tennis elbow and brings flexibility to arms. Rest your arms at the sides. Bend the knees and place the soles of your feet flat on the ground. Place your left foot under your right knee and move it towards your right hip. Place your right knee on the left knee and move your right foot towards the outside of the left hip. Reach your affected arm behind your back and the other arm behind your head, trying to clasp your fingers or hold a strap between your hands. Initially, you may not be able to clasp your fingers, so utilise a terra band and as you practice, you will see the flexibility increase.
Agility benefits: Releases pain in the elbow, improves arm flexibility and releases muscle spasms in the shoulder area, making your tennis, golf, badminton, cricket game and the ability to reach objects behind you much better.
Veer Bhadraasana: This warrior pose is a version of lunges and balances the root chakra,. Follow the steps below:
Begin in a standing (tadasana) position with your feet brought together and your hands to your side. Extend right leg forward as you extend your left leg back similar to a lunge movement. Turn midsection so you are facing the bent right knee. Give your body added support by slightly turning your left leg. Inhale and raise your body up from your knees. Slowly stretch your arms upward as you bend your back to create a slight arch. Remain in this position for 15-30 seconds, breathe normally Slowly break the pose by exhaling and straightening your right knee. Push off your right leg and allow yourself to come back gently into the original pose. Repeat for the opposite leg.
Agility benefits: Strengthens hamstrings, arms, shoulders, makes stair climbing easy as hamstrings and legs are strengthened; helps with tasks of reaching up for something easier as shoulders and arms are strengthened.
Yoga is a mind-body union. Balancing with yogic agility helps you repair cellular ageing, making the ageing process youthful and fresh. This June 21st, seize your youth with daily practice of the above.