By 2050, one in five people will be 60 years or older, totaling 2 billion people worldwide. Individuals may experience extra years in better health and live in a supportive environment, their ability to participate in activities they value will have few limits. Activities of daily living may decline. Despite, these added years, they are dominated by rapid declines in physical and mental capacity, the implications for older individuals and for society as a whole are much more negative. Providing the best possible health in older adults is, therefore, crucial if we are to achieve sustainable blissful living. By tapping into the autonomic nervous system (parasympathetic), and vagal nerve stimulation with the assistance of yoga can reduce blood pressure, heart rate, and increase gastric secretions.
Traditionally, yoga by itself refers to raja yoga, mental science. Yoga is a science of the body, mind, and soul. It is considered the mind and body practice. Asana (postures) and pranayama (breathing) helps control anxiety by occupying the mind with coordination, aligning physical, and chemical energy in the body and expending “nervous” energy in movement. Mindfulness is purposeful awareness, of the present moment, without judgment. Mindfulness assists with the balancing of the sympathetic nervous system. Therefore, yoga and mediation may have an effect on the physiological parameters of stress. Providing advanced practice registered nurses (APRN) with another tool would benefit older adults in all settings.
Yoga is one of the scientific and popular lifestyle practices considered as the integration of mind, body, and soul. During this presentation, the (APRN) will identify different yoga techniques and provide yoga modalities to the older adults (pranayama, mediation, and poses). Ideally incorporating self-care is essential to healthy living. The ultimate outcome is to improve the quality of life, mobility, mental health, and well-being.
Learning Outcome: After completing this learning activity, the participant will be able to assess innovations being used by other professionals in the specialty and evaluate the potential of implementing the improvements into practice.