A REVIEW OF YOGA IN KEY AREAS OF GERIATRIC HEALTH

Dr. Sadhna Anil Kumar and Dr. Ramesh Ujwale

ABSTRACT

Jara indicates the declining phase after midlife i.e. the ageing process. Both Ayurveda and Yoga Shastra emphasize ways to delay the onset of Jara with the goal of long healthy life. Yoga may prove beneficial for elderly people, by enhancing strength and flexibility and preventing pain and injuries. Research to understand how Yoga works on key areas of geriatric health and promotion of the same at clinic levels is imperative today. This review analyzes how Yoga is a key to healthy ageing when implemented through tailor-made preventive and curative approaches. The entirety of Ashtanga Yoga, Hatha Yoga and its allied forms engages the individual in an all-encompassing approach that spans the dimensions of the human being. It is applicable medically to stabilize imbalance caused by disease at each level: psychological, social, physical, emotional, spiritual. It is essential to study how Yama and Niyama impact social, emotional and spiritual health in the aged; how Asana and Pranayama strengthen all systems and delay ageing. This paper explores mode of action of integrated approach to Yoga therapy on geriatric health and illuminates how this ageless holistic system emboldens the idea that the twilight years are a time of greater perspective and enlightenment instead of degeneration.

Keywords: Yoga, Geriatric Health, Jara Vyadhi, Asana.