Unless a person expert in yoga, or a yogi, people may not know and understand all the different types and forms of yoga practiced. People also think of yoga as a slow-paced workout that solely focuses on strategic breathing techniques called meditation.

Though these styles actually exist, a newer and stronger type has altered the traditional yoga, known as power yoga.

Power Yoga

Power yoga is known to be a fitness-based Vinyasa practice, which means to arrange something in a specific way. Particular to traditional yoga, yogis flow with the movements from one pose to another. However, power yoga is mostly based on an Ashtanga technique, which includes a series of about 75 poses that take more than an hour to complete and need to be repeated in each class period.

Power yoga was reformulated to attract western students, which ultimately allowed the teachers to have the ability to change pose sequences while avoiding a constant burnout. It focuses on strength and agility as a rigorous workout regimen being introduced in gyms worldwide, also recognizing itself as the gym yoga.

Benefits of Power Yoga

While traditional yoga is known to be slow and water-like motions, Power Yoga is a rigorous workout.

Power yoga is, in fact, beneficial for older adults, as an added bonus to other benefits like senior discounts and a prime seat on a crowded bus. It not only brings physical benefits but mental benefits as well.

Seniors who have been active all their life, they may not notice some of the typical age-related changes in the body, like slow reaction time, tight muscles, shallow breathing, and limited endurance. Power yoga can help fight a variety of signs of aging.

The following are some of the most prominent physical and mental health benefits of power yoga.

Physical Health Benefits

Yoga of any type itself promotes strength, flexibility, and stability. With power yoga, seniors can accelerate the intensity of the boasting physical benefits. Those who practice power yoga back the fact that it is much more than traditional yoga because it can be considered both the cardiovascular and aerobic workout.

Often, it is also found as fitness yoga because the totality of the poses promotes an accelerated heart rate and a more strenuous effort by the sequence of poses.

Boosts Strength, Flexibility, and Stamina

Power yoga is designed to ultimately aid in reducing the risk of injury during other physical activities of daily life.

Rids Toxins

This advanced type of yoga can eliminate toxins from the body through sweat and boosts the performance of immune system, even more than that of regular yoga. During performing power yoga, seniors can enhance the drainage of lymph, a viscous fluid with immune cells. This allows the lymphatic system to combat infections, weaken cancerous cells, and get rid of bodily toxins.

Low Impact

Power yoga may not be like regular yoga, yet it is a low impact workout. Unlike high-intensity exercises like weight lifting and sprinting, power yoga allows people of all age groups to access. It is one of the ideal exercises for older adults as it helps in reducing the physical limitations caused by arthritis.

Corrects Posture and Reduced Back Pain

According to a study, people who were experiencing back pain did power yoga twice a week for six months and eased their soreness by 56 percent. It was then compared to the results of those given treatments like physical therapy and pain medications, who reported the ease in pain by nearly 16 percent.

Provides an Alternative Way to Strengthen Bones

Although traditional weight-bearing workouts can strengthen bones and fight off osteoporosis, many seniors with bone health issues fear them. However, power yoga gives the same effects without involving weight-lifting.

Increases Blood Flow

Yoga allows the blood to thin and make platelets less sticky, reducing the level of unnecessary clot-forming proteins. In addition, thinner blood can promote heart health by reducing the risk of heart attacks and strokes because the unneeded blood clots are often the cause of these health conditions.

Promotes Weight Loss

Not simply by burning calories, power yoga can also help in building lean muscle mass, which increases the basal metabolic rate, meaning it can burn more calories, even when a person is not moving later.

Mental Health Benefits

Whether traditional or advanced, yoga has consistently shown to be extremely valuable in preserving and enhancing mental health. In particular, regular practice can aid in relieving anxiety and stress, enhance mood, sharpen concentration, increase energy levels, and boost mindfulness.

In fact, many psychologists and psychiatrists also recommend seniors yoga to be a part of their treatment and rehabilitation plan for multiple mental disorders. Yoga has been known to lower the symptoms of sleep disorders, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and schizophrenia.

Enhances Mood

A brain chemical known as GABA is linked to depression when at low levels. Doing power yoga regularly can increase the GABA levels by 27 percent more than that of the people who read quietly.

Elevates Confidence and Self-Image

According to study, women who practiced power yoga on a regular basis rated their body satisfaction about 20 percent higher than those who chose aerobics. However, both groups were maintaining a healthy weight.

Relieves Stress

Practicing yoga at least once a week can release around 41 percent less Cytokine, a stress-triggered type of protein that causes feelings of fatigue and moodiness.

Boosts Quality of Sleep

Yoga is highly beneficial for those with insomnia. According to a study, after practicing power yoga for 2 months, people with insomnia or other sleep disorders enhanced their sleeping patterns; they fell asleep 15 minutes earlier than they used to sleep during insomnia and slept of an hour longer every night. Power yoga allows people to get a deeper, more restorative sleep, even if they get the same amount of it.

Increases Concentration and Memory

Power yoga has shown to boost memory and concentration more than vigorous aerobics and cardio workouts like cycling or running on a treadmill.

Family members can play a big part to encourage their aging loved ones to take up yoga on a regular basis. If you don’t have enough time to help your loved one maintain physical and mental fitness due to other responsibilities to tend to, you can consider hiring professional respite care residents can count on.

Make sure to consult a physician to determine whether certain poses of power yoga are suitable for your loved one if he or she is managing symptoms of a health condition to prevent potential concerns. It is a great way to enhance overall health, stay independent, and enjoy a high quality of life in the golden years.

Author Bio:

Marina Torres works as a content writer at Home Care Assistance of Mesa. She has a passion for writing from a very young age and loves to write about how life can be made more enjoyable by realizing the fact of different challenges associated with life. This is the reason she has chosen writing as a career and working with the agency.