Yoga for Healthy Aging: Science or Hype?

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Yoga, one of the world’s oldest health systems is receiving new attention for claims that it can contribute to healthy aging. 


Until recently, scientific evidence for its efficacy has relied heavily on small and poorly-designed research, but this is changing. Multiple, well-designed studies provide data showing that yoga practice has positive effects on cellular aging, mobility, balance, mental health, and prevention of cognitive decline—all areas of concern for older adults. 



Since the cost of implementing yoga-based community and home-based interventions is low—policymakers are also eyeing yoga practice as a cost-effective way to reduce medical costs and improve outcomes among a growing aging population.









Recent research supports the hypothesis that yoga counteracts aging processes.








Tolahunase and colleagues demonstrated that intervention incorporating classical yoga postures, breathing exercises, and meditation was associated with positive changes in the levels of biomarkers of cellular aging including 8-OH2dG, a product of DNA damage; oxidative stress markers; and telomeres, the cellular clocks that shorten with each cell replication. 






Santaella et al. examined the impact of long-term yoga practice on connectivity between the prefrontal and posterior cortex of the brain—the network of interconnecting neurons that transfers data related to working-memory, spatial attention, and decision-making. They showed that older women practicing yoga for at least 8 years had better functional brain connectivity compared with yoga-naive controls.







Cahn and colleagues found that a 90-day yoga and meditation retreat was associated with reductions in brain-derived neurotrophic factor, Hypothalamic-Pituitary Axis activity, increased IL-10 and decreased IL-12 indicators of lower overall inflammatory activity that has been associated with premature aging.







Yoga practice has also been shown to have positive
 neurological and mental health benefits. 


A systematic review and meta-analysis of yoga practice on brain structure, found that regular practice was associated with anatomical changes in the frontal cortex, hippocampus, anterior cingulate cortex and insula—all areas implicated in aging-related cognitive decline. Other studies have similarly shown that yoga practice also has benefits for mental health. Gupta et al. found that yoga had both immediate and long-term impacts on State and Trait anxiety score.




Gururaja and colleagues showed that seniors age 65 to 75 years who participated in 90 minutes of yoga classes once or twice weekly for a month, had significant reductions in state and trait anxiety scores. Collectively, these findings suggest that yoga may be useful for mitigating age-related and neurodegenerative declines in older adults.





Yoga has also been found useful in maintaining physical mobility and functional independence in seniors. 


Grabara and Szopa studied 56 women ranging in age from 50 to 79 years who attended a 20-week yoga retreat using pre- and post-measures of spine mobility and found yoga practice was associated with greater muscle flexibility and a greater range of motion. Intervention participants demonstrated greater spinal mobility, more overall back strength, and more strength in their abdominal oblique muscles. Beyond the physical benefits, yoga was also found to improve health related quality of life and mental well-being in older adults.

Finally, feasibility studies among older adults show high acceptability for yoga interventions.




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