YOGA AND LONGEVITY

LIVING LONGER LIVES WITH YOGA: SCIENCE OR FICTION?

While many of the physical and mental benefits of yoga are generally accepted, the longer-term effects of consistent yoga practice on how well, and how long, we age are less clear.

I started contemplating the connection between yoga and longevity during teacher training when I was introduced to some of the best-known yoga teachers like Krishna Pattabhi Jois (last known age at 93), B.K.S. Iyengar (last known age 93), and more recently Tao Porchon-Lynch who died in 2020 at age 101. Working among an older population here in the Algarve, Portugal, I noticed how even among those introduced to yoga later in age, there seems to be an offset to the ageing process compared to those with no consistent yoga practice — not just in terms of better posture, strength, and flexibility, but a healthier lifestyle and a more positive outlook to life.

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

In a 2017 study published in Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity, researchers found that 12 weeks of yoga slowed cellular aging. The program consisted of 90 minutes of yoga that included some of the basic traditional physical postures, breathing exercises, and meditation for five days a week. Researchers measured various biomarkers and found that, compared to the control group, yoga slowed down cellular aging and lowered measures of inflammation in the body.

Another study in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience found that a 90 days yoga retreat reduced inflammation and stress in the body. The yoga retreat included meditation, physical postures, and chanting daily. Beyond the physical benefits, yoga was also found to improve health-related quality of life and mental well-being. While the yoga retreat program may be too time-demanding for most people, even two to three hours of yoga a week can improve health.

In an earlier smaller study, researchers at Harvard Medical School found that practitioners of loving kindness meditation, which utilises a focus on kindness and warmth towards all people, have longer telomeres, structures found at the ends of our chromosomes. The shortening of telomeres is associated with aging, cancer, and a higher risk of death. Interestingly, this was most apparent among women meditators. Although limited by its small sample size, the study shows the possibility that lovingkindness meditation, especially in women, might alter relative telomere length, a biomarker associated with longevity.

WHERE DOES YOGA FIT IN MODERN MEDICINE?

Most regular yoga practitioners have experienced how yoga can activate the parasympathetic nervous system, known as the “rest and digest” mode while reducing the response of the sympathetic nervous system, or the “fight or flight” mode.

Yet accumulating scientific studies suggest that done consistently, yoga can do more to slow down aging. Particularly in the wake of COVID, there is increasing awareness of the importance of a preventive model in healthcare. As attention moves to a new more proactive and preventive healthcare paradigm, driven by artificial intelligence, big data robotics, and other new technologies, yoga tools handed down from thousands of years ago can be added to the mix for comprehensive wellness. And the good news is that it is never too early, or too late, to start incorporating elements of yoga into your lifestyle — what research calls “yoga intervention”. From chair yoga for older adults or those with mobility limitations, to moderately dynamic Hatha yoga, to Iyenger yoga and yoga therapy, the scientific evidence for a regular yoga practice confirms a range of mental and physical benefits. Especially at times like these, when the present feels uncomfortable and the future uncertain, yoga, one of the world’s oldest health systems, remains an accessible and cost-effective way to proactively and safely live better and longer lives.