Articles
The Journal on Active Aging brings articles of value to professionals dedicated to older-adult quality of life. Content sweeps across the active-aging landscape to focus on education and practice. Find articles of interest by searching the article archives in three ways: Enter a keyword in the articles search bar; click on search by topic; or type a keyword or phrase in the general search bar at the top of the page.
Topic- Mindful exercise
Yoga programs for older adults by Patricia Harpell
If you can breathe, you can do yoga. One look at the cover of many yoga magazines might lead you to believe that yoga is just for the slim, young and flexible. Yet I have introduced yoga to healthy older adults as well as to people with spinal cord injuries, amputees, those confined to wheelchairs or beds, and everyone in between.
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Wu style Tai chi for older adults by Master Henry Cheng
In China, public parks often contain groups of people performing slow, graceful and ballet-like movements in unison. Visitors often ask themselves, “What are they doing?” They are performing the movements of Tai Chi, more commonly known as Tai Chi Chuan. Tai Chi Chuan is an ancient art of moving meditation. Originating in China during the Sung Dynasty (960 - 1279 AD), a Taoist monk Cheung San Fung created it while looking for a suitable martial art for his Taoist Sanctuary. Legend says that he often observed long-lived animals such as the crane and the turtle. One night he had a dream about a snake and a crane engaged in a dance-like fight, and thus came the idea for Tai Chi Chuan.
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Qi Gong and Tai Chi: promoting practices that promote healthy aging by Wojtek Chodzko-Zajko, PhD, Lynn Beattie, MHA, Rita Chow, EdD, James Firman, EdD, Roger Jahnke, OMD, Chae-Hee Park, MS, Karl Rosen
In the final decades of the 20th century and the early years of the 21st, health promotion emerged as a complement to conventional medical interventions. Some examples of these innovations include disease risk management, self-care, reduction of negative drug interactions, falls and injury prevention, stress management, holistic healthcare, and mind-body medicine. An integral part of this healthcare evolution has been the growing importance of various forms of exercise modalities originating from Asia, such as Qi Gong and Tai Chi.
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Yoga basics for older adults by Leigh Crews
Yoga is a centuries-old system for living handed down to us as an interwoven tapestry of physical and spiritual elements. In the west, we typically think of the physical aspects when we say we "do yoga." Yet, yoga's mental aspects are woven throughout the physical movements. Yogic movement and poses (asanas), combined with yogic breathing techniques (pranayama) and guided relaxation or meditation (dhyana), form the basic fabric of yoga practice.
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Armchair pilates by Moira Merrithew
Pilates is a mind-body system that emphasizes controlled movements and conscious breathing patterns. This gentle activity provides many benefits that not only attend to some physical concerns of aging, but also help clients achieve greater well-being and self-esteem through their golden years.
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Ezy Tai Chi: a simpler practice for seniors by K. John Fisher, Fuzhong Li and Machiko Shirai
As a form of exercise, tai chi increasingly appeals to the growing proportion of older adults that looks for alternative and convenient ways to exercise for health. Originally developed for martial arts purposes in China more than 300 hundred years ago, this practice has been used as a traditional exercise to improve fitness, health and longevity for individuals of all ages. Tai chi’s low-to-moderate intensity and beneficial effects on strength, flexibility, breathing and balance make it especially attractive to mature adults.
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