Simple Exercises for Seniors: Part 1 (suitable for all ages)

Noticed Grandpa and Grandma (or Dad and Mum) shuffling a little lately? Or caught them placing a hand on their back to give themselves a massage?

Wondering what you could do to help them become stronger, to feel more comfortable?

Muscle strength and Range of motion

As we age, we lose muscle strength and our joints tend to lose their suppleness. The range of motion of our joints becomes limited.

We stop being able to bend and touch our toes. We can’t turn from the waist and look back. Lifting our legs up to climb the stairs becomes a challenge.

Other than posing an inconvenience, these situations could actually be risky or even dangerous.

According to the American Academy of Otolaryngology, one of the reasons for the higher risk for falls in the elderly is the body’s deterioration with age. 

We gradually lose muscle strength (i.e. we become weaker) with age.

Our joint tendons and ligaments lose their flexibility, resulting in limited range of motion. 

Tight muscles ( = shortened muscle fibres) also cause the range of motion of joints to be reduced.

Hence, the elderly fall more easily, often injuring themselves in the process. Many of us have heard of at least one elderly person who suffered (sometimes serious) injuries after a bad fall.

Conversely, if an elderly person can retain his/her muscle strength and joint range of motion, the risk of falling would decrease.

As is often said, “Prevention is better than cure”.

Let’s get down to the first exercise to help Grandpa and Grandma stay strong and flexible. 

We're starting with a relaxing exercise - to stretch out the back muscles and start to regain some range of motion in the spine. 

Other strengthening exercises will follow in later posts.

The exercise

If they are healthy, Grandpa and Grandma would probably not need any assistance while doing the exercise. However, it’s good to be with them when they do the exercise, especially in the first few times, just in case they need help.

What’s more, it’s nice to be by their side to offer “moral support” and encouragement while they’re trying something new!

Note:

• Do the exercise on the floor on a yoga mat, or on a firm mattress.
• Stay focused during the exercise. Observe the sensations in the body.
• If there is any pain or discomfort, stop the exercise.
• If Grandpa and Grandma have had any injury or have a chronic illness, consult a doctor before beginning the exercise.

Supine Spinal Twist

Relax and let gravity do the work in Supine Spinal Twist

1. Lie on your back.
2. Bend your knees and hug them to your chest.
3. Release your left arm to the floor, extending it straight out at shoulder level.
4. Exhale, drop both knees over to the right side of your body, twisting the spine and lower back. Place your right hand lightly on your knees.
5. Keep your left shoulder on the floor.
6. If it feels ok for your neck, turn your head and look at your left hand.
7. Relax into the pose. Let gravity pull the knees down, so you do not have to use any effort in this pose.
8. Hold for up to 10 breaths.
9. To release, inhale and roll the hips back to the floor, bringing your knees back to your chest.
10. Repeat on the other side for the same duration of time.

Benefits

• Stretches the back muscles --> this can help to reduce backache caused by tightness in the back muscles
• Realigns and lengthens the spine

Stay Safe

• Do not use force in this pose, let gravity do the work.
• Seek a doctor’s advice before practising if you have a recent or a chronic injury to the knees, hips or back.

Do let me know your feedback after Grandpa and/or Grandma (or you!) give this a try, in the comments below.

2 Things You Can Do to Mitigate the Ill-Effects of the Haze on Your Body

Singapore's Merlion Looking Out Toward a Hazy Bay (Photo Credit: Straits Times)

My Facebook and Twitter feeds are flooded with updates on the latest PSI reading, which keeps ticking up.

People wearing masks are no longer shunned. No one wonders "What's wrong with them?", because we all know - it's the haze in the air.

Mere mortals like us cannot do anything about the fires in Indonesia causing the pollution.

But we can and should do whatever we can to limit the impact on our bodies of inhaling the polluted air in this haze.

We're familiar with the official advisory by now, i.e.

• Stay indoors (with windows and doors closed)
• Avoid strenuous activities

Here are 2 things that you can do to mitigate the ill-effects of the haze on your body:

1. Breathe in and out only through your nose

The air smells bad.

It is tempting to breathe through the mouth to avoid detecting the foul, smoky smell in the air.

However, our nose was built precisely for the purpose of breathing.

The nose:

• Filters particles from the air we inhale, preventing them from entering our lungs
• Humidifies the air, adding moisture to keep your airways from drying out
• Warms the air to body temperature before it reaches the lungs

Breathing through your mouth instead of your nose bypasses much of the body’s natural air filtering and treatment. This can allow germs, allergens and other pollutants to get inside your lungs, where they can damage delicate tissues.

With the haze right now, it is even more important that we allow the nose to perform its function (especially its function as a filter) - so, please breathe through your nose!

(Do remember to clean your nose too. Just as a vacuum cleaner with the dirty filter cannot pick up much dust from the floor, a dirty nose can't do as good a filtering job as a clean nose.)

2. Drink more water

This sounds really generic.

(a) Ensures that the filter in your nose keeps working

When you breathe through your nose, the air goes past your nostrils into an open area inside your head called the nasal cavity, before heading down the esophagus and into your lungs through the windpipe.

The whole system of airways is lined with a thin layer of sticky mucus that traps dust particles, bacteria and other pollutants. Tiny hairs called cilia sweep mucus from the nasal cavity into the back of the throat where it can be swallowed and neutralized in the stomach.

Mucus is constantly being produced (2-4 cups per day) so that the cycle can go on.

With the unusual load of particles in the air that need to be removed, the mucus membranes are working in overdrive to produce more mucus than usual.

(b) Ensures that your have enough tears to wash out the dirt out of your eyes

With more dust particles coming in contact with our eyes, tear production is increased to flush out the dirt. The blinking reflex in the eye allows the lashes and lids to move tears, bacteria and debris out of the eye.

Sure, eye drops work. Use them when necessary. But fluids in the body can only be replenished by drinking water.


Drinking enough water ensures that the body can produce enough mucus and tears, so that your body's systems can work in the optimal way to protect your health.

Take care, everyone.

How to Exercise While Sitting

Long hours seated in a chair is bad for your health

If you sit in a chair a lot, your hips are probably quite tight. 

That means:

• Your hip flexor muscles (responsible for flexing the hip, or drawing the knees to your chest, and moving your legs front-to-back and side-to-side) become shortened.
• This causes tightness in the hips and reduced range of motion

Which eventually leads to 

• Hip pain
• Lower back pain
• Pelvic tilting
• Knee problems - because your walking and running gait gets affected, causing strain to the knees

If that prospect doesn't appeal to you, you could consider doing the following:

Begin with One Small Change, then Proceed to a More Challenging Exercise

If you're usually sitting in a chair throughout the day, I recommend one small change that you could make to start taking care of your body in a simple way. Plus, you can multitask while doing that simple, one-minute exercise!

If you find "sitting cross-legged on the floor" too easy, you're ready for a more challenging "sitting exercise" (haha). This is the installment that I promised in my previous blog post.

Stretching Your Thigh Muscles 

In this exercise, we will gently stretch the inner thigh muscles and open the hips. In doing so, we will 

• improve the blood circulation to the hips and knees, and 
• gradually increase the range of motion of the joints as the suppleness of the hip and knee joints improves

(In short, we're keeping the joints healthy.)

Because this exercise is done in a gentle manner, it means that we can do it for a longer period. When we give the muscles time to slowly stretch, they can stretch more.

It's Also Multi-Tasking Friendly

Too busy to exercise? No time to exercise?

No worries, this is yet another multi-tasking friendly exercise. You can do this while watching TV, or reading... Anytime when you can sit on the floor.

If you don't care for it, ignore the funky name. As Shakespeare wrote in Romeo and Juliet, "A rose, by any other word, would smell as sweet." So... just enjoy the "pose" (couldn't resist the pun).

Here we go... Do let me know in the comments how it goes for you.

Baddha Konasana (Bound Angle Pose, Butterfly Pose)

1. Sit with your legs straight out in front of you, ankles and knees together, and your weight equally distributed on both sitting bones and spine upright.
2. Bend your knees and bring your heels toward your pelvis.
3. Then, relax and allow your knees to drop out to the sides, pressing the soles of your feet together.
4. Bring your heels as close to your pelvis as you comfortably can, without rounding your back. 

   
   

   Sit with the soles of your feet touching and knees pointing away from each other

   
   
5. Inhale, raise your arms up from the side, bringing your upper arms next to your ears. Lengthen your spine upwards.
6. As you exhale, fold forward and allow your palms to touch the floor in front of you.
7. Inhale, lengthen your spine forward. As you exhale, relax and allow your upper body to go closer to the floor.
8. Bring your chin towards your chest and relax your neck.
9. Stay in this position for 1 to 5 minutes, as long as you feel comfortable.

   

    To deepen the stretch, bend forward and reach forward

    
10. To exit this position, look in front, point your arms forward with your upper arms next to your ears.
11. Inhale and suck in your belly to engage your abdominal muscles (this protects your back), and come up.
12. Bring your arms down, then straighten the legs out.

Benefits

• Stretches the inner thighs, groins, and knees.
• Opens up and relaxes the hip joints.
• The pressure on your abdomen area in this forward bend stimulates the abdominal organs, and helps to improve digestion.
• The forward-bending position has a calming effect.

Stay Safe 

• Never force your knees down. Instead release the heads of the thigh bones toward the floor. The knees will follow. 
• If your knees are very high or your back rounded, don’t bend forward. Just sit upright and focus on your breathing to release the tension in your hip joints. Sitting on a high support (e.g. a cushion, a thick book, or a folded blanket) will help. 
• Do not use force to bring the upper body closer to the floor. When force is used, the muscles contract instead and you risk injuring yourself. 
• Unlike what the name (“butterfly”) suggests, do not bob your knees up and down. Just keep them relaxed during the entire process.
• A more relaxing way to do this is to have your feet further away from your groin area, forming a larger angle between your upper and lower legs.

No time to take care of your health? Try this one-minute "exercise".

Want to take care of your health, but can't seem to find the time?

Your body seems to be telling you something. There's an ache in your lower back. It comes and goes. The knees feel a little stiff.

Feel like you should do something to keep fit, or stay healthy? 

Yet, there are too few hours in a day. Too many things that you want to (have to) do, that are more important, more urgent.

When you're done with everything else, you're too tired.

Too tired!

What do you do after you get home at the end of the day?

(a) Sit down to watch TV
(b) Sit down to read
(c) Sit down to surf the web/watch stuff online
(d) Sit down with the kids to go through their homework
(e) Sit down and ... (do whatever)
(f) Do something while not sitting down

My guess is, whatever you choose to do, you're probably sitting while you're doing it.

Add that to the huge chunk of time that we spend seated during the workday, that's a lot of time that we spend sitting down.

Sitting (in a chair) too much is bad for health

Prolonged sitting does the following to your hip flexors (the muscles responsible for flexing the hip or drawing the knees to your chest, and moving your legs front to back and side to side):

• Shortens the hip flexors
• Which causes tightness in the hip flexors and reduced range of motion

Tight hip flexors eventually lead to hip pain and lower back pain, pelvic tilting and even knee problems.

What if some of that time that we spend "sitting down" at home could double up as time for you to take care of your body, in a simple way?

You'll just have to make one small change.

Instead of sitting in a chair, sit on the floor. 

• Sit with your spine upright (don't round your back).
• Try to sit with your knees bent/legs crossed, if you can. If that's too difficult right now, sit with your legs stretched out in front of you.
• If you wish, sit on a low cushion/mat/rug. Don't make yourself too uncomfortable.
• You can do something else (read, watch TV, check your kid's homework) while you're sitting on the floor.

Just sit on the floor for one minute each day. 

(That's about the time taken to watch 2 TV commercials, or read one page of a book.)

After a few (probably 3 or 4) days, you will notice your body getting used to it. For example,

• You feel less uncomfortable.

• You struggle less to stay balanced.

• It gets easier to sit down and get up.

• Your bent knees don't feel so stiff or painful. Or you find that you can start to bend your knees more.

When that happens, extend the time by one more minute. Then, when your body gets used to that, add another minute.

Keep doing this every day for two weeks.

• Pay attention to how you feel immediately after every session.  
• At the end of two weeks, you would probably be able to sit on the floor for 3 to 5 minutes.

Benefits of sitting on the floor

1. Engage more muscles compared to sitting in a chair.  
2. Better blood circulation back to your heart (your heart doesn't have to work so hard to pump blood throughout the body).  
3. Strengthens the lumbar region of the body (lower back), reducing back pain and discomfort.  
4. Strengthens the core muscles. 
5. Improves the suppleness of the ankles.  
6. Stretches the hip flexors.   
7. Promotes mental calmness, soothes frazzled nerves and is said to aid one’s creative imagination 

 

Ability to sit on and rise from the floor is inversely related to mortality risk

In the 13 December 2012 issue of the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, in a study spanning 6 years, researchers reported that subjects who scored poorly on the “SRT score” (sitting-rising score) were at risk of being 6.5 times more likely to die in the next six years.

If just sitting on the floor is too easy for you

If you find just sitting on the floor, cross-legged too easy, I'll be back soon with the next post in which I will describe a more challenging exercise.

In the meantime, just sit on the floor a little longer! :)

Reference:

de Brito, Ricardo, et al. Ability to sit and rise from the floor as a predictor of all-cause mortality,  European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, Dec 2012

Get relief for your neck and shoulders in less than 5 minutes

Do you:

• Feel tightness in your shoulders
• Have a stiff feeling in your neck
• Sometimes have difficulty turning your head to look to the side
• Occasionally have numbness running down your arm

These are often aggravated by doing the following for long periods of time:

• Slouching at your desk, typing away on your computer or surfing the Internet
• Peering at the screen of your smart phone

As a result, a lot of tension accumulates in your neck and shoulders. This tension could sometimes cause headaches too.


Try the following sequence (it takes less than 5 minutes) during the day to release some of that tension. If you do this before going to bed, it might help you get better rest.

1. Pulled Apart [1 minute]

• Sit upright on the floor or in your chair.
• Inhale and raise both arms up from your sides to shoulder level.
• Relax your shoulders and roll your shoulders away from your ears.
• Stretch your arms out to the sides as much as you can. Imagine that your arms are being pulled to your left and right respectively.
• Spread your fingers wide.
• If you feel any tension in your arms or shoulders, gently focus your attention to that area where you feel the tension, consciously relaxing the area.
• Hold for up to 30 seconds, then slowly relax your arms and lower them.

2. Tilt-Shift [1 minute]

• If you're seated on the floor, when you lower your arms (with elbows straight) from #1, bring your arms low enough so that your fingertips are just touching the floor. Keep pointing your fingers.
• If you're seated in a chair, reach below and hold on to the seat of your chair from the side. Keep your chest wide and have your arms straight.
• Keep your face facing the front and your shoulders relaxed.
• Exhale and tilt your head to the right, bringing your right ear towards your right shoulder. Imagine that your head is really heavy so your ear is going closer and closer to your shoulder.
• Hold for up to 30 seconds, then bring your head back to the centre on an inhale.
• Repeat on the other side for the same duration.

3. Left-and-right [1 minute]

• Keep your arms and hands as in #2.
• As you exhale, keeping your chin level, turn your head to the right, as far as you can.
• Then, lower your chin and look down along your arm towards your fingertips.
• Hold for up to 30 seconds, then inhale, bring your head up (keep chin level to the floor) and turn to the front.
• Repeat on the other side for the same duration.

4. Up-and-down [1 minute]

• Keep your arms and hands as in #2.
• As you exhale, slowly drop your head to the back and look towards the ceiling.
• Hold for up to 30 seconds.
• Exhale and begin to look down by trying to bring your chin towards your chest. Keep your shoulders relax and your chest open.
• Hold for up to 30 seconds. 
• Inhale, and bring your head up (chin level to the floor).

Let me know (in the comments) how you feel after trying out the sequence.

How to Relieve that Bloated Feeling in Your Stomach

“My tummy feels bloated. I ate too much at the get-together…”

It's the year-end festive season. The season of get-togethers of all manner of friends, family, schoolmates, colleagues...

What’s almost always present at these get-togethers? Heaps of food.

When we're happy and busy catching up, we don't pay much attention to the amount of food that we put in our mouth.

The result? A bloated stomach. Definitely uncomfortable.

There's a way to get over this feeling quickly.

It’s simple and does not require any special props. More importantly, it always helps to relieve that bloated feeling in my stomach.

Pavanamuktasana (Wind Relieving Pose)

1. Lie on your back, with your legs extended and your arms by your sides.
2. As you exhale, draw your right knee to your chest and clasp your hands just below your knee, hugging the knee to your chest.
3. Keep your left leg as straight as possible and completely on the mat.
4. Hold for the duration of 5 breaths.
5. Release your right leg back to the floor.
6. On the next exhalation, draw your left knee to your chest and clasp your hands just below your knee, hugging the knee to your chest.
7. Keep your right leg as straight as possible and completely on the mat.
8. Hold for the duration of 5 breaths.
9. Release your left leg back to the floor.
10. On your next exhalation, bend both knees and hug them to your chest.
11. Hold for the duration of 5 breaths.
12. Release both legs back to the floor and rest.
13. If it feels right, repeat 2-3 times.

Benefits

• Relieves excess digestive gas (“wind”) from the stomach and intestines
• Relieves indigestion, bloating, flatulence, acidity, and constipation
• Stimulates the intestines and other organs in the abdomen region
• Releases tension in the lower back, hips, and thighs
• Strengthens the back and abdominal muscles
• Tones the leg and arm muscles

Variations

Try these modifications to make it easier or more challenging, if it feels right to you. Always practise in a relaxed manner.

• If your stomach or chest is in the way, it might be difficult to clasp both hands around the bent knee. Instead, draw your knee slightly to the (out)side of your body, toward your armpit on the same side, instead of clasping it over the centre of the chest.
• If it is still difficult to clasp both hands around your knee in this way, wrap a yoga strap around your knee and hold onto the strap with both hands.
• If your hips are tight, bend the knee of your extended leg and place the sole of your foot flat on the floor instead.
• To deepen the stretch, lift your head off the mat to bring your nose to your knees in the full pose, i.e. when hugging both knees to your chest. (Avoid this if you have any neck injury or neck pain.)

Precautions

• Avoid practising this if you have any of the following: high blood pressure, heart problem, hyperacidity, hernia, slipped disc, neck or spinal injury, sciatica, or while recovering from abdominal surgery, or after the second trimester of pregnancy or during menstruation.
• Consciously keep your lower back and buttocks on the floor and the extended leg as straight as possible and on the floor.
• Always begin the sequence by hugging your right knee to your chest. Your right leg and knee will place pressure on the ascending colon. When you change sides (left knee in, right leg extended), your left leg places pressure on the descending colon. This right-left order stimulates digestion and correctly releases excess “wind.” Reversing the sequence and pressing on the descending colon first can cause aggravation, constipation, bloating, and intestinal discomfort.

 

Try this the next time your tummy feels bloated or if you have indigestion. Let me know in the comments below if it works for you.

Related Articles

If you suffer from indigestion frequently, the underlying cause might be something deeper. It might actually be caused by stress! Read how you can Improve Your Digestion with Yoga.

One year ago, I went under the surgeon's blade...

One year ago today, I underwent surgery to remove fibroids from the uterus.

I felt calm as I was wheeled into the operating theatre, and even joked with my doctor when she arrived. But, once the anesthetist injected the chemicals through a tube to make me go to sleep, and my eyes started to cloud over, I felt a wave of fear and panic wash over me. I started sobbing uncontrollably. 

All I heard was the anesthetist and his assistant saying, "It's ok, it's ok..." as I slipped into nothingness. My last memory was the gentle touch of the anesthetist assistant putting her hand on my shoulder to calm me down.

When I awoke, the growths had been removed and I was as good as new. (Well, almost.)

Flowers from dear friends

The episode jolted me. I had to take better care of my health. It was obvious to me that whatever I'd been doing to take care of myself was not enough to counter the ill effects of the environment, and those times that I didn't take care of myself.

Medical research hasn't found the cause of growths like these. However, I think that all the stress that I had kept bottled up inside made me more susceptible to falling sick.

Now, I frequently remind myself not to take things too hard. And, I practise yoga to keep my body and mind in balance. :)

Which reminds me... it's time for me to get serious about meditation too.

Do you (did you) have any health issues that you think are caused by stress? What do you do to combat stress?