A health expert recently argued that posture and social contact are the two most significant factors when it comes to healthy ageing. Of course, there is more that we could add to the list, such as healthy eating, exercising, sleeping enough and having a purpose in life. In fact, the older we get, the more we seem to have to do each day to stay healthy. Naturally, socialising is crucial when we age, but to single out posture as the most powerful physical factor may be more surprising. Nevertheless, it’s an interesting idea that I would like to explore in this blog. Is a good posture really the most important factor for healthy ageing?

While winter yoga naturally invites us to focus on dynamic and strengthening practices, summer is just too hot for these. The warmer weather allows muscles to release more easily and is perfect for soothing movements and cooling breath techniques. The yoga I teach in my group sessions changes from season to season. In summer I always recommend the legs-up-the-wall-pose as a regular home practice. If you suffer from heavy legs during warm weather, this simple inversion could be just right to relieve leg fatigue and heaviness. This supported inversion can also be helpful when you have lower back pain, varicose veins, and oedema in legs, ankles and feet. In addition, it soothes the nervous system. If you feel stressed or anxious, this an excellent position to relax in, regardless whether your legs need it or not. For your yoga in summer, stay cool and relaxed with these yoga poses!

Having high blood pressure does not prevent you from doing yoga. On the contrary, practising yoga, calm breathing and meditation can reduce hypertension. However, do you know which kind of yoga to practise and which poses to avoid? In this blog I explain what high blood pressure is, what the risks are and how you can reduce it. Importantly, you will learn which yoga practices are beneficial and which you have to avoid even if you take medication for high blood pressure. Finally, in this episode of yoga for healthy ageing: high blood pressure, I’ll walk you through a calming yoga practice.

I never thought I would do a pilgrimage walk. I used to think walking holidays quite a curious way to spend the summer, mainly for older people. Of course, with age long walks can become an attractive challenge. Walking from A to B, in the footsteps of medieval pilgrims, turned out something meaningful, demanding but still achievable. Over 10 days, I walked one of the pilgrim routes in France, from Le Puy to Conques. It’s the route that eventually leads to Santiago de Compostella, so it brims with the pilgrimage history, and is also popular with modern-day walkers. We walked an average of 21km per day, up and down, through stunning countryside. Stretching my leg muscles twice a day became necessary to stave off leg and knee pain. Whether you are planning a walking holiday or regularly walk long distances, I would like to share the stretches that helped me most. Especially as we get older, practising these essential leg and knee stretches after long-distance walking will allow us to feel rejuvenated and ready to walk again!

Our bones may seem rigid, but they are constantly changing: broken down by bone cells called osteoclasts and rebuilt by other bone cells called osteoblasts. Unfortunately, several factors can cause the osteoclasts to outdo the osteoblasts. Age, for example, causes our bones to become thinner. When the risk of breaking bones is at a critical level, we have osteoporosis. Osteopenia is its precursor. Osteoporosis is sometimes called the “silent decease”, because it doesn’t hurt and we’re not aware of our bone strength until we have a bone density scan or break a bone. In order to prevent and even reverse bone loss, we are told to do weight-bearing exercise. However, this does not only mean lifting weights. Yoga is actually one of the best forms of exercise to prevent and manage osteoporosis. This blog about yoga for osteoporosis and osteopenia explores how yoga can build strength in bones and help prevent falls.

If you suffered from back pain, and you are now committed to keep looking after your back, I have a great practice for you. It’s also beneficial to prevent back pain and keep your back supple and strong. After all, you may know how to stretch your back and how to strengthen core muscles, but do you know how to strengthen your upper and lower back? This blog teaches you how to strengthen your upper and lower back simultaneously with one simple and efficient yoga movement. If you would like to maintain the health of your back, its strength and flexibility, this yoga movement is a good one to add to your exercise regime and do a few times a week.

If you have back pain, you’ve probably heard that you have to strengthen your abdominal muscles. Strong abdominals help stabilise the trunk and spine during all your movements and help maintain a good posture. They also prevent the back muscles from doing overwork. Weak abdominals are likely to lead to back pain in the long term. However, keeping the abdominals strong may not be straightforward if you are suffering from a painful, weak or tight back. This blog shows you how to start with safe core strengthening when you have back pain. If you would like to alleviate back pain or prevent it, you are in the right place!

If you’ve ever had a slipped disc, you know how it is to feel excruciating pain in your lower back, sometimes accompanied by shooting pain down your leg. There can also be reduced sensation, tingling and weakness in one leg. The crippling pain may have put you out of action for at least a few weeks. In the best possible scenario, a slipped disc is diagnosed early. You would be told which movements exacerbate the condition and which can heal your spine. If, on the other hand, you keep doing the wrong things, such as slouching and lifting, you may suffer long-term pain and eventually further deterioration of the spine. Physiotherapists, osteopaths or chiropractors offer different treatments, with varying results. This blog discusses the intervention by yoga therapy. Yoga therapy for a slipped disc or herniated disc can teach you relaxation, the movements to avoid and the practices suitable for each stage of the recovery.

Many elements contribute to a bad or good posture. We can read that bad posture is generally caused by a sedentary lifestyle, an injury, our occupation or genes. But we don’t often come across the correlation between bad posture and our emotional world. In this blog, I address the connection between posture and confidence, between the way we hold ourselves and our emotions. Fear and a lack of self-esteem can make the front of the body contract. Because our self-esteem colours the relationships we find ourselves in, this Valentine’s Day blog gives you a nourishing practice to boost both good posture and confidence.

Perhaps like you, I’ve been listening with interest to Michael Mosely’s health advice on the BBC Radio 4 series “just one thing” and “just one long thing”. The advice from several experts about healthy ageing, preventing inflammation, diet and exercise is compelling. I would just add one more, long thing and say, do everything you can to prevent back pain! Back pain is draining and debilitating and makes you feel older than you need to be. The restricted movement and potential lack of activity due to back pain will lead to other health problems. Bad posture as in a rounded upper back, impacts your health and mood negatively and even makes you look old. In this blog I elaborate on the five pillars of back health, and explain how you can prevent back pain to support healthy ageing.