This functional yoga sequence will help you build strong bones & maintain bone health as you age…

As we age, our bones have a tendency to lose density – especially for women. This can lead to fractures, loss of mobility, and restricted daily activities – all of which can significantly decrease quality of life in our older years. One of the best ways to maintain bone health as you age is to engage in regular weight-bearing activity.

This doesn’t mean that you have to start lifting weights – although that is certainly an option. In fact, your own bodyweight is all you really need to get the benefits of weight bearing exercise. Walking, jogging, or calisthenic exercises are all forms of beneficial exercise that you can participate in. However, one of the best and most accessible forms of weight-bearing exercise that you can do is yoga!

Along with the other many benefits of yoga for healthy aging, yoga helps you use your own body weight to your benefit in building strong bones. Rather than targeting a specific part of the body as walking or jogging does, yoga actually helps strengthen the bones throughout your entire body. This bone-building activity is two-fold: Both the activity of balancing your weight on your hands, knees, feet, and other areas of the body as you flow through yoga poses, and the pulling action of your muscles and tendons on your bones as you move, can help to strengthen your bones and increase bone health.

The functional yoga routine below combines standing (weight-bearing) poses with supported reclining poses to help stabilize the joints, rebuild bone tissue, and maintain good bone health. Do this one regularly to help maintain health and mobility as you age!