Nina recently shared with me some fascinating information about Jane Fonda, who has lived many lives, from actor to fitness guru to political activist, just to name a few. Fonda reportedly used to practice a more strenuous yoga two hours a day. “But” she says now, “those days are long gone. It got to be too hard.” All of that hard work has paid off even as Fonda approaches her golden years, though. She puts it this way:
“Every single time I go to get out of a car now, I say ‘Thank you, Lord, I have strong quads. Because if I didn’t have strong quads, I couldn’t be independent. You have to keep your back and legs strong so you can remain free and independent.”
Truer words could not be spoken! In my years as a Family MD, I cared for a lot of seniors, seeing them in my office if they were still living independently, or making trips to the nursing home if they needed special care. And one of the key skills that often allowed my aging patients to remain at home, which is were they all preferred to be, was the ability to “transfer” independently. By this I mean that they could go, typically, from a sitting or reclining position, such as their bed, to a standing position without any assistance. And they had to be able to do the reverse, that is, safely transfer from standing to sitting. Obviously, if they could do this from the floor to standing or vice versa, they would be way ahead of most of their peers! I have a 75-year-old student who does just that each week in class with me.
I found this expended definition of “transfer” at the medical web site medicine.jrank.org:
“"Transferring" is the term used for moving from one condition to another, such as out of a bathtub, chair, or car, or getting into bed. The ability to transfer depends on many factors, including strength, balance, vision, and flexibility.”
Because of the physical benefits of a regular yoga practice, specifically maintaining flexibility, promoting muscular strength, improving balance and keeping the body agile, students who maintain a regular yoga practice are likely to remain independent much longer than their age-matched community, all other factors being equal. And even if they don’t have a vigorous practice like Jane did in her younger years, even a moderate or gentle yoga practice is likely to have the same four categorical benefits listed above.
Many of the standing poses would be likely to help with such daily activities such as getting in and out of the car. Any standing pose that requires the knees to bend and straighten, such as entering, holding and exiting from Warrior 1 or 2, is simulating the action the knees, legs and hips perform for our car example (see Warrior 1 and Warrior 2 Mini Vinyasas). Even better would be Fierce pose (Utkatasana), also called Chair pose!, especially if you added in a twist. One of the more challenging transfers for older people is using the toilet in a standard bathroom. It is usually lower than a typical chair, and so presents more potential challenge for most. Yet, if you continue to practice in an intelligent, age-adjusted yoga class, such situations may be non-issues for the aging yoga practitioner.
In classes designed for seniors with no previous yoga experience, it is quite common to utilize chairs to modify many yoga poses. So, just by virtue of getting in and out the chair in class a few times in class, with mindfulness and attention to detail, the student is again performing a similar movement to other important daily activities. The stress-reducing practices of yoga, as well as the mental sharpening skills of dharana, or concentration practice, are also likely to improve our chances of remaining independent well into our later years. So, let’s follow Jane’s example and keep our body and mind strong and agile via a regular yoga practice, so that we won’t even need an extra thought as we push away from the dinner table, stand and move onto the next activity of our full and satisfying day!
