Aging

Reading from Tuesday, November 3, 2015 yoga class

From the Yoga for Healthy Aging website (yogaforhealthyaging.blogspot.com) by Nina Zolotow

 “Scientists are discovering something very peculiar about aging: How we feel about getting old matters. A lot. In test after test, researchers are finding that if we think about getting older in terms of decline or disability, our health likely will suffer. If, on the other hand, we see aging in terms of opportunity and growth, our bodies respond in kind.” —Anne Tergesen from “To Age Well, Change How You Feel About Aging.”

I think we all understand that the tendency of media to portray only thin, young white females doing yoga is not a good thing, as it makes people who don’t fit into that limited category (most of the world’s population!) feel as if yoga might not be for them. And, of course, that’s sad because this stereotype of who can do yoga means that a lot of people could benefit from the practice will be missing out. But now I’ve learned that these kinds of stereotypes can be particularly harmful to older people. According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal To Age Well, Change How You Feel About Aging (which cited several scientific studies), negative stereotypes about aging affect the beliefs of older adults about the aging process, potentially causing them to do serious harm to their health without realizing it. 

“Scientists aren’t sure exactly how holding negative stereotypes affects health, but they say it’s clear that there is a connection, and it isn’t simply correlation. In test after test, negative stereotypes have been shown to lead to poor health results. Over the past two decades, dozens of studies from psychologists, medical doctors and neuroscientists have shown that older people with morenegative views of aging fare more poorly on health than those with less-pessimistic attitudes.

“Even when study participants have similar health, education levels and socioeconomic status, those with more negative outlooks about aging show greater declines in a variety of areas over time. They have shakier handwriting,poorer memories, higher rates of cardiac disease and lower odds of recoveringfrom severe disability, according to studies by Prof. Levy. They are less likely to eat a balanced diet, exercise and follow instructions for taking prescription medications as they age. They even die younger—the median difference in survival rates is 7.5 years.”

So...please don't say you can't do something because you are too old!!!   If you want to read the entire article go to the website.  There are a couple of great pictures of older people in yoga poses and a funny cartoon at the beginning of the article.