Yoga has along list of health benefits, including greater flexibility and range of motion, stronger muscles, better posture. Even balance, reduced emotional and physical stress, and increased self awareness and self-esteem. Yoga’s forward folds have to be eliminated for the osteoporosis crowd but the rotational poses actually increase bone density.
Dr. Loren M. Fishman is a physiatrist at Columbia University who specializes in rehabilitative medicine. He has been gathering evidence on yoga and bone health, hoping to determine whether yoga might be an effective therapy. The idea that yoga helps with bone density is not widely accepted in the medical community. More than 700,000 spinal fractures and more than 300,000 hip fractures occur annually in the United States. Dr. Fishman hoped that this low-cost and less dangerous alternative to bone-loss drugs is worth pursuing.
Bone-loss medications can produce adverse side effects like gastrointestinal distress and fractures of the femur. A study published in “Clinical Interventions in Aging” found that of 126,188 women found to have osteoporosis, all of whom had Medicare Part D drug coverage, only 28 percent started bone drug therapy within a year of diagnosis. Most people do know that the prescribed medications come with complicating factors and risks.
On the other hand, yoga’s “side effects”, Dr. Fishman and colleagues wrote recently, “include better posture, improved balance, enhanced coordination, greater range of motion, higher strength, reduced levels of anxiety and better gait.” How does yoga work to increase bone density? “Yoga puts more pressure on bone than gravity does,” he said in an interview. “By opposing one group of muscles against another, it stimulates osteocytes, the bone-making cells.”
The 12 poses, by their English names, that were shown to help the most were tree, triangle, warrior II, side-angle, twisted triangle, locust, bridge, supine hand-to-foot I, supine hand-to-foot II, straight-legged twist, bent-knee twist and corpse pose. Each pose was held for 30 seconds. The daily regimen, once learned, took 12 minutes to complete. However, Dr. Fishman does advocate that if you don’t learn to do these correctly and with modifications you can hurt yourself. It is very important to learn these poses with corrections from a qualified instructor. If you choose to try to do them without instruction they may not be effective or worse, injure yourself.
“Yoga looks like it’s safe, even for people who have suffered significant bone loss,” Dr Fishman said in an interview. Additionally, “improvements in posture and balance that can accrue from the practice of yoga can be protective”. “Spinal fractures can result from poor posture, and there’s no medication for that, but yoga is helpful”.
In addition, yoga is good for range of motion, strength, coordination and reduced anxiety, all of which contribute to the ability to stay upright and not fall. If you don’t fall, you greatly reduce your risk of a serious fracture. We will be offering yoga for osteoporosis all built around these 12 poses known to increase bone density and improve balance and posture! Please contact us at info@penrosept.com if you want to join us.
You can also request our free osteoporosis report by calling us at (360) 456-1444 or by visiting https://penrosept.lpages.co/osteo-report/ where you can download it instantly. The report, titled
“7 Ways To Prevent Fractures If You Have ‘Soft Bones’ – How To Stop Shrinking By Improving Posture, And Decrease That Rounded Upper Back!”
details the 7 tips to live by if you have soft bones, as well as 3 simple things you can do to help ease the stress on the soft bones. Don’t delay your future of activity and healthy bones! Get your report today and let us know if you’re interested in our yoga classes for osteoporosis!
