Seniors Yoga

"The best age is the age you are." - Maggie Kuhn

Aging with Respect - Yoga for the Golden Years

Knee Exercises By Joe, my Dad and Guru

Yoga for the Golden Years

The knees are complex joints that play a vital role in our daily mobility. Happy bodies require pain free knees. A growing number of viewers ask about exercises that can strengthen their knees. Done improperly ... yoga can irritate old knee injuries, but with a mindful practice and some strengthening exercises as part of your daily practice, you can actually help undo years of pounding the concrete while running or other exercises that rush knee degeneration.

You don't even have to suffer from serious knee pain or osteoarthritis to want to prevent knee degeneration. Whether you're out to guard against injury or simply regain strength and flexibility after an injury, yoga could be a superb antidote to knee trouble. With over 10 million Americans complaining about knee pain, take a few moments every morning with our non-weight bearing exercises that can make a big difference in your knee flexibility, strength and mobility.

Two General Rules to protect Knees while practicing Yoga

Build strength by balancing. Balancing poses, especially those that focus on alignment, such as Mountain Pose, Extended Mountain Pose and Tree Pose are especially beneficial in protecting the knee against future injury. In standing postures you can keep a slight bend in your knees.

Avoid hyper extending and modify tough postures with props. In seated asanas, such as Virasana (Hero Pose), try raising your seat with blankets or a block. In postures such as Balasana (Child's Pose) try placing a folded blanket into your knee pit to prevent hyper-extensions of your knee joints.

And if you're in your golden years yet - or even close - you can still use these knee exercises to protect your knees for graceful aging.