Cultivate Your Core

cultivatecalmyoga.com

Balance, hip flexibility and core strength all work together to provide ease of movement, high energy levels, overall health, and vitality. The more confident you are as you move your body, the less likely you are to fall or get injured. In short, your balance, hip flexibility, and core strength ensure you live a long life of independence, enjoying your favorite activities.

Previous posts explored balance and hip flexibility. This post explores core strength.

The term “strong core” means different things to different people. For aging bodies, it means the main muscles of your abdominal area are activating appropriately and doing the work in weight-bearing movements. A “strong core” also means developing and activating muscles in your back, hips, upper torso, and shoulders. If you have a “strong core” you are less likely to have back pain or poor posture.1

*NOTE: If you have a “bad back” or can’t SAFELY get down on your hands and knees, try this video 7 Standing Core Exercises. *

TESTING YOUR CORE STRENGTH 2

You will need a flat, clean surface (a yoga mat works well) and a stopwatch (on your phone).

yogajournal.com

The Plank Test, also known as the Prone Bridge Test, is a simple fitness test of core muscle strength. The aim of this test is to hold Plank Pose for as long as possible.

Start with the upper body supported off the ground by your elbows and forearms, and your legs are straight with the weight taken by the toes.

Lift your hips off the floor creating a straight line from ankle, to hip, to shoulder. 

yogajournal.com

As soon as you are in the correct position, start the stopwatch.

The head should be facing towards the ground and not looking up and forward.

Stop the stopwatch when you come out of alignment (when your belly sags or hips rise up).

How did you do? 

CULTIVATING CORE STRENGTH

You can’t just sit on the sofa wishing for a strong core! Instead you need to cultivate it. 

You may feel challenged in the following poses - cultivating your core is hard work! If you feel a little shaky while doing the poses, that’s normal. However, if you can’t breathe, that’s not good! Try to find your happy medium, the place where you feel confident that you are cultivating your core and as equally confident that you are not overdoing it.

Most core poses can be divided into two types:

1. stabilization (holding your spine and pelvis steady)

2. or articulation (moving through the small joints along the spine).

We will explore a pose of each type and one that combines stabilization and articulation.

STABILIZATION: Holding your spine and pelvis steady 3

Plank Pose challenges the core muscles to hold your body stable in space, so, if you like, keep practicing Plank Pose and tracking your time. For an upward facing pose, Boat Pose is a good option to strengthen and stabilize your spine and pelvis. Here are 3 progressive variations to try that move from “easier” to more “difficult.” Choose one or try all three.  All of these Boat Pose variations challenge you to stabilize your core.

Boat Variation #1:  Half Mast or Half Boat Pose

In this variation, you will keep your knees bent.

1. Start seated with your knees bent and soles of your feet on the floor.

2. Place your hands behind your knees, gently holding your thighs, lengthen your spine and sit tall.

3. Slowly lean back, knees bent, keeping your back straight while your feet lift from the floor as far as you feel steady and supported.

4. If you can, extend your arms forward, parallel to the floor.

5. Stay for 5–10 breaths.

Boat Variation #2: Anchored and Steady Pose

In this variation, you will straighten your legs while keeping your hands on the floor to help you feel steady and to support the lift of your spine.

1. Start seated with your legs straight on the floor in front of you (Staff Pose).

2. Lean back slightly and place your palms a few inches behind your hips, fingers pointing forward.

3. Lift your chest, bend your knees, and raise your legs until your shins are parallel to the floor.

4. Bring your thighs toward your torso, and move your back ribs and shoulder blades forward.

5. Exhale and straighten your legs without rounding your back.

6. Stay for 5–10 breaths.

Boat Variation #3:  Love Boat or Full Boat Pose

In this variation, you will straighten your legs and extend your arms.

1. Start seated with your legs straight on the floor in front of you (Staff Pose).

2. Lean back slightly and place your palms a few inches behind your hips.

3. Lean back on your hands as you lift and straighten your legs as you did in Anchored and Steady Pose. Now come onto your fingertips and lift your lower back so that your entire spine feels as though it is moving toward the front of your body.

4. Lift your arms and stretch them evenly out in front of you, parallel to the floor.

5. Keep your palms extended, facing each other.

6. Stretch your fingers forward and pull your shoulders back and down as you lift your sternum.

7. Stay for 5–15 breaths. 

 

ARTICULATION: moving through the small joints along the spine.

yogajournal.com

Bird Dog Crunches

1. From all fours, inhale and extend one arm forward and the opposite leg straight back, finding a stable balance for a few breaths.

2. Then, use your exhalation to bring your elbow and knee toward each other as your back rounds.

3. Use your inhalation to extend again.

Do 5–10 rounds before switching to the opposite arm and leg.

 

STABILIZATION AND ARTICULATION: holding your spine and pelvis steady while moving through the small joints along the spine.

yogajournal.com

Twisting Boat Pose

1. Begin in Half Mast Boat Pose (see above)

2. Arms extended in front, parallel to the floor. OPTION:

3. Inhale at center, then exhale to twist to one side, spread arms open.

4. Keep your knees and feet in line.

5. Inhale to center, then exhale to twist to the other side.

(If this is too much, rest your feet on the floor and twist.)

Alternate until you do 5–10 rounds on each side.

 

Whether you are playing golf or playing with your grandchild, your core strength is essential!  And while younger people may focus on “glamorous” or “contortionist” yoga poses, a focus on balance, hip, and core poses are key to aging well!  Yoga is about cultivating an aging body that supports your lifestyle - a life of independence, ease of motion, and good health.

 

1. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/strong-core-best-guard-back-pain/

2. https://www.topendsports.com/testing/tests/plank.htm

3. https://www.yogajournal.com/practice/full-boat-pose/

4. Rountree, S. and Desiato, A., Lifelong yoga. pp.52-53.

5. https://www.yogajournal.com/practice/yoga-sequences/12-minute-core-strength-sequence-real-people/

Yoga and Pastel QAnon

Getty Pictures/Wired

Say it isn’t so! QAnon conspirators targeting yogis? Sorry, it is true.
According to Cecile Guerin, part-time yoga teacher and researcher at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, we are now experiencing, not just a pandemic, but also ‘conspirituality’ – the intersection of yoga, spirituality and holistic health with conspiracy theories. She says, “In the early days of lockdown, I saw posts about how juices, miracle cures and turmeric could boost my immunity and ward off the virus. As the pandemic intensified, disinformation became darker, from anti-vaxx content and Covid denialism to calls to ‘question established truths’ and wilder conspiracy theories.” 1

What is QAnon?
“Q” is the name of a supposed high-clearance intelligence officer who drops cryptic messages about a “cabal” on various websites. According to The New York Times, Q has “dropped” almost 5,000 messages so far, many repeating warnings about satanic rituals that have previously made their way into mainstream culture. (If you lived through the 80s, you might remember evening news stories claiming Satanists were infiltrating daycares and schools to abuse children.)

The main tenets of QAnon, a far-right conspiracy theory that promotes, among other things, the belief that there is an elite cabal of leftists (top democrats and liberal entertainers - “dark forces who threaten humanity.”) engaging in a child trafficking ring.  QAnon claims, that cabal members kill and eat children to gain special powers from their blood. This is a recycled Blood Libel conspiracy theory rooted in anti-semitism from the turn of the Twentieth Century, which helped to fuel Nazism across the world. 2

Though QAnon has existed on the fringes of the internet for a few years, it has become increasingly mainstream, with congressional representatives and prominent influencers, including many in the wellness community, promoting its central beliefs.3

 

What is Pastel QAnon?
The term “Pastel QAnon” was coined by Marc-André Argentino, a Canadian Concordia University PhD student who has documented the growing use of QAnon messaging in the wellness community. Argentino noted how social media influencers have taken QAnon content and applied a “softer, less dark aesthetic to the same core messages.” 4

Many yoga teachers and wellness influencers are posting and sharing Pastel QAnon messaging. Most are on pastel backgrounds and in pretty fonts - “they call COVID-19 a hoax, encourage gun ownership, warn about human trafficking, and celebrate Donald Trump as a “light worker” in his quest to “save the children.”” 5

Mr. Argentino identified 114 groups that bill themselves as anti-child-trafficking concerns, but are actually dominated by QAnon content. Its followers have hijacked the online #SaveTheChildren movement, and inserted QAnon messaging into claims about child exploitation and human trafficking. Since July, 2020, he found these groups have increased their membership by more than 3,000 percent — yes, 3,000 percent — with a corresponding surge in activity within these groups. 6

Why target yoga and wellness online communities?
According to British writer and philosopher Jules Evans, who’s written extensively about the intersection of mysticism and conspiracy theories,“People prone to spiritual experiences may also be prone to unusual beliefs like conspiracy theories, which could be described as a paranoid version of a mystical experience.”

Also, while the physical yoga studios were closed during shut-down, the online communities were wide open! Hala Khouri, co-founder of the yoga and social justice organization Off the Mat, Into the World, also saw the Pastel Qanon messages showing up in “wellness” posts. She believes the debunked viral documentary Plandemic, which spread misinformation about COVID-19, was an entry point to QAnon for many in the wellness community. (The documentary was removed by both Facebook and YouTube in May, 2020.) 7

Finally, the yoga and wellness online communities are largely female, educated and middle-class – seemingly unusual candidates for the spread of conspiracy theories. Yet, research has shown that women are more likely to believe anti-vaxx disinformation, with female-dominated yoga and wellness groups a gateway to these beliefs. 8  

 

Why would seemingly intelligent, “good” women believe Pastel QAnon conspiracy theories?
It may have started with antivaccine messaging and later a “save the children” campaign. Many saw the movement as worthy of supporting, possibly without initially realizing that this was QAnon content. Throughout history “good” people have believed conspiracy theories and followed extremist movements basically because of three factors: need, narrative, and network. 9

1. An individual Need - for significance and mattering, perhaps to counter some perceived discrimination or threat. For the wellness community, this is usually described as an “awakening” or “enlightenment”, which may not be tied to any particular religion. Or she may need to realize of her truth of the matter, and ultimately, the rejection of any perceived “tyranny.” “Pastel QAnon” is aware of these needs. So they are targeting wellness influencers, yoga practitioners, vaccine skeptics, “natural parenting” groups, alternative healers, and concerned suburban moms.

2. Exposure to a Narrative that tells how the need can be satisfied. A historical lack of investment in women’s health set the stage for a yearning for ‘natural’ and ‘alternative’ responses to health problems. This yearning for “natural” solutions led many women to the narrative of distrust of Big Pharma, the FDA, conventional medicine, or anyone who dismisses or criticizes “alternative” medicine - her need for her truth. 10

The central principles of nearly every conspiracy theory dovetail nicely with alternative medicine views of health. Both the conspiracy and wellness communities share the narrative of distrust. They do not trust science, expertise, nor conventional medicine, except when it supports their own narrative:

• “Nothing happens by accident (“your disease, your fault“).
• Nothing is as it seems (“your science can’t measure the effectiveness of my remedy”).
• Everything is connected (Think phrenology, reiki, acupunture, etc).” 11

3. Support and validation through a Network (a group of comrades, friends or family members) who validate the Narrative and dispense rewards for those who act on the Narrative, i.e. online “likes,” sales of products, public demonstrations, etc. Today's social media is the Network, Facebook; Twitter; Instagram, etc. Conspirituality, a podcast about the intersection of New Age spirituality and far-right extremism, has compiled a list of roughly two dozen wellness influencers who have posted QAnon-related content.

As mentioned earlier, these Networks are growing! It is like online echo chambers, where you are only exposed to your perceived Needs and the Narrative that appears to satisfy your needs. 12

 

Unfortunately, the historical links between yoga and extremist politics are well-documented. This includes Nazi Germany’s interest in astrology, alternative medicine and, yes, even yoga. And, as the Nazis corrupted most things they touched, so it was with yoga. 13

Yoga was seized on by race experts in the party as being the pursuit of 'Ayran' people. Jakob Wilhelm Hauer, an S.S. captain and yoga expert, influenced S. S. Commander Himmler and convinced him that “yoga can internally arm us and prepare us for the forthcoming battles.” In fact, Himmler carried around a German copy of the Bhagavad Gita with him wherever he went. He regarded the ancient Sanskrit epic as being a blueprint for cruelty and terror, using it to justify the Holocaust. "He identified himself and the SS with the old Indian Kshatriya caste and its publicized attitude of unscrupulous killing for one's 'higher purpose.” 14

As has happened in the past, yoga, spirituality, and wellness practitioners infuse many forms of politics. But these need to be balanced with the pragmatic, the rational, and with respect for law and democratic process. I am not claiming that yoga and “wellness” inevitably lead to QAnon conspiracies and extremist politics. What I am saying is we shouldn’t be bewildered by the present overlap between them. It’s happened before.  

We can only hope that we all will learn from history and not repeat it – that yoga and wellness practitioners will not fall prey to Pastel QAnon messages.

“We need to learn how to balance our intuition with critical thinking, otherwise we can fall prey to ideas which are bad for us and our networks.”- Jules Evans
 

To Learn More …
Communities of Hate: Why People Join Extremist Movements- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kqy4wGT6tVs

Anti Anti Vaxx Kit https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5cc216f2c2ff6132d9d57816/t/5d88f048c1b2d2788b4726c6/1569255512703/Kids+Plus+AAV+Toolkit.pdf

More about the Hijacking of the #SaveTheChildren Movement
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/12/technology/qanon-save-the-children-trafficking.html
 

ENDNOTES:
1. https://www.wired.co.uk/article/yoga-disinformation-qanon-conspiracy-wellness
2. https://www.justsecurity.org/72339/qanon-is-a-nazi-cult-rebranded/
3. https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/qanon-twitter-ban-parler-conspiracy-theories-1032523/
4. https://news.yahoo.com/pastel-q-anon-where-pro-trump-conspiracy-theories-meet-new-age-spirituality-222152937.html
5. https://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/yoga-wellness-and-qanon-conspiracy-theories/
6. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/28/technology/save-the-children-qanon.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage
7. https://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/yoga-wellness-and-qanon-conspiracy-theories/
8. https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2020/12/03/covid-19-vaccine-intent-appendix/
9. https://eeradicalization.com/interview-with-dr-arie-w-kruglanski/
10. https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/conspirituality-where-new-age-wellness-meets-right-wing-conspiracy-thinking/
11. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13537903.2011.539846
12. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/01/11/opinion/what-drives-pro-trump-mob/
13. https://www.thebigsmoke.com.au/2020/12/27/yoga-astrology-and-conspiracy-theories-when-the-nazis-and-new-age-overlap/
14. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2104365/How-SS-recommended-yoga-death-camp-guards-good-way-stress.html?ito=feeds-newsxml 

Are Your Hips Healthy?

Jill Miller, creator of Yoga Tune Up® and The Roll Model Method® She “retired" this pose in 2008.

Do you think the photograph above is an example of healthy hips? If so, you might want to think again. The photograph above is of yoga teacher Jill Miller BEFORE she had a total hip replacement - at age 45! However impressive this photo seems, it is, in reality a picture of hypermobility - also known as double-jointedness, in which joints stretch farther than normal.

In Jill’s case, years of hypermobility led to “picture-perfect” yoga poses—and 7 years of chronic pain!  Her overuse injuries ultimately prompted her total hip replacement.  After the surgery, she switched from the way she practiced yoga in her younger years and transitioned to a more hip stabilizing practice.  Fortunately, she is still teaching yoga today. 1

Hypermobility can set the stage for the degeneration of the hip and other joints. However, anyone, at any age, for almost any reason can experience issues with their hips.  An active lifestyle, athletic pursuits, and genetics may also contribute to hip issues. 2 

physio4fight.wordpress.com

No one wants to end up with a hip so unhealthy a saw is required to fix it!  What you really want to focus on is hip mobility, NOT hypermobility.  Mobility is what allows you to move comfortably through your daily activities like bending down to tie your shoes, reaching for items on a grocery store shelf, and working in your garden. Although it might make an impressive picture, you don’t need to perform hypermobile hip poses.  In fact, hypermobility may indicate destabilization of your joints – that's not healthy! 3  

 

Balancing Strength and Flexibility for Healthy Hip Mobility

Hip strength is the first component of hip mobility.  If the muscles, tendons, and ligaments that support your hip joints are weak, it can interfere with walking and running. Weak hips allow you to will sink into the ground with each step instead of rebounding forward. This weakness can lead to injury over time as your joints are strained by too much torque. Support from strong muscles, tendons, and ligaments stabilize your hip joints and prevent injuries.

Hip flexibility is the second component of hip mobility. As you age, your ligaments change, your muscles and fascia may tighten, which increases stiffness and decreases flexibility. A sedentary lifestyle and excessive sitting are a couple more reasons for why you develop stiff hips which limit your range-of-motion. This can then limit your ability to squat which, in turn, affects your ability to complete daily tasks like caring for grandchildren or pets. 4

How Healthy Are Your Hips? - testing for strength and flexibility

These self-tests will establish a benchmark which enables you to gauge improvement. First, you will test your hip strength. Next, you will test your hip flexibility.

SKIP THE TESTS!   If you’re not able to stand on one foot safely, have balance issues, or have had hip replacement surgery - start by talking to your doctor about your current health and work with your doctor to find the right plan for you. 

 
1. CHECK YOUR HIP STRENGTH 6

Can you stand on one leg with your other knee parallel to the floor for 10 seconds?
This quick test can give you clues about the strength of your hip flexors—as well as the strength of your glutes and core.

The Test: You’ll need a sturdy chair or workout box. You may also want to perform this near a wall that you can hold on to if needed and place the chair on a non-skid surface. 

 

 

 

 

If You Were Able to Stand with Good Form for 10 Seconds on Each Leg:
That’s a sign your hip flexors, glutes, and core are in good health. Specifically, it means they’re working together to keep you stable—as you walk, climb stairs, step over obstacles, and generally stay active.

If You Weren’t Able to Maintain Good Form, Couldn’t Hold for 10 Seconds, or Noticed a Big Difference Between Sides
That’s a sign you may have some muscle imbalances caused by weakness in the hip flexors, glutes, or core.

 

 2. CHECK YOUR HIP FLEXIBILITY
This 3 ½ minute video from Dr. Joel Eaby Physical Therapy does a good job of demonstrating the self checks for flexibility – internal rotation, external rotation, flexion, and extension of the hip. 

YOUR GOAL: HIP MOBILITY

annwestyoga.com

Most of us could benefit from working on our hip mobility issues. There are a total of 22 muscles that cross the hip on all sides and at varying angles, including your hip flexors in the front, your hamstrings, glutes, and deep lateral rotators in the back, your inner thigh muscles (collectively called your “adductors”), and your outer thigh muscles (collectively called your “abductors”). 

 

Technically any yoga pose that lengthens any of the 22 muscles that cross the hip improves hip mobility. This means, for example, that all hamstring stretches, all inner thigh stretches, all standing poses, many twists are hip-openers, and as counter-intuitive as it may seem, all back bends are also “good” for hip mobility.

 

Yoga poses create a balance between strength and flexibility in the hips – front to back and side-to-side. When flexibility is combined with strength and control you are able to maintain mobility. 

 Your goal is to safely stretch and release the muscles of the hips and legs while cultivating a healthy balance between strength and flexibility. 7

 

Here are some yoga poses to help keep your hips happy and healthy! 8

As with any physical activity, remember - you must move with the body you have at this moment, not 10 years ago, 10 months ago, 10 weeks ago, 10 days ago or even 10 minutes ago.  Remember - move with care.  A supported variation for each pose is offered.

Low Lunge 

• From a standing position, lower yourself to kneel on one knee. Make sure the other knee lines up over your ankle.
• Pull the hip of your kneeling knee back so that it is in line with your opposite hip.
• Lift your arms overhead and overlap your thumbs.
• Pull your tailbone downward to avoid overarching your lower back.
  

Supported Low Lunge with blocks

Lizard Pose

• From a standing position, lower yourself to kneel on one knee. Make sure your forward knee is over your ankle, and roll your foot slightly to the outside to open your bent leg.
• Lean forward and place your hands on the mat to the inside of your foot.
• For a less intense stretch, keep the forward foot flat on the mat rather than rolling onto the outside edge.
• For a more intense stretch, lean forward further and place your elbows on the mat.

Supported Lizard with blocks, arms extended or bent

Reclined Half Pigeon

• From a sitting position, lie on your back, knees bent.
• Place the ankle of one leg on the knee of the other.
• Bring your legs toward your chest and hold the bent leg with your hands.
• Keep toes of both feet flexed.
• For a deeper stretch, reach for the bottom leg and pull toward your chest gently.

Supported Reclined Half Pigeon on the Wall

Reclined Cobbler’s Pose

• Lie on your back with the soles of your feet together, knees splayed to the outside.
• For a less intense stretch, slide your feet away from your body.
• For a more intense stretch, walk your feet closer to your body and place your hands on your inner thighs.
• To move out of the pose, use your hands to guide your knees together.

Supported Reclined Cobbler's Pose with pillows

1. https://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/inside-my-injury-how-i-ended-up-with-a-total-hip-replacement-at-age-45/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=onsiteshare

2. http://sacredsourceyoga.com/physicaltherapy/yoga-and-your-hips-deciphering-femoroacetabular-impingement-and-labral-tears/

3. https://singaporeosteopathy.com/2015/05/03/joint-hypermobility-beyond-the-normal-range-of-movement/

4. Rountree, S. H. (2017). The runner's guide to yoga. Carrboro, NC: TIPS Technical Publishing.

5. https://squatuniversity.com/2015/12/01/the-squat-fix-hip-mobility-pt-1/

6. https://youtu.be/dcOEUVSOiSc

7. Rountree, S. H., & Desiato, A. (2017). Lifelong yoga: Maximizing your balance, flexibility, and core strength in your 50s, 60s, and beyond. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.

8. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/yoga-poses-that-can-stretch-your-hip-muscles/

Are You Aging Well?

"Life is a balance of holding on and letting go." - Rumi

Several years ago, after one of my library story times, I watched a grandmother struggling to get to her feet after sitting on the floor. She crawled across the floor, towards a wall, and began to pull herself up. I asked if I could help her and then reminded her that chairs were available at the back of the room.

“Oh, I know that,” she replied. “But I want to sit with my grandchildren and join in the fun. It’s just that I can’t stand up once I sit down!" 

 

IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT AGING:

Getting up and down from the floor is so important that our ability to do so is actually a measure of our fitness and longevity.1

Getting up and down from the floor calls on almost every area of fitness and every part of our bodies: core strength, lower body strength, flexibility, coordination, and especially, BALANCE!2

According to the CDC, one out of four people over 65 falls each year, and having one fall doubles your chances of another fall.3 The best way to avoid falls is to develop strong balance.

 

Are you aging well?  One way to tell is by taking a simple balance test and completing "sit to stand" challenges.  These activities measure your current balance and ability to get up and down – grunting and groaning are optional!  Plus, I will conclude with some basic standing poses to help you build and maintain your balance as you age gracefully. 

 

Begin with this simple balance test from the Health Foundation for Western and Central New York. This test helps to determine your risk for falls as you age. Your time, how long you can stand in a balancing pose, is your benchmark from which you can gauge improvement. You will need a timer (on your phone) or have someone time for you.

Balance Test: Stand up straight with your arms crossed. Lift up either leg, starting a timer as you do so, and hold that leg up with your knee bent for as long as you can without touching the other leg or uncrossing your arms. Don't use a support.

Stop the timer when the raised leg touches the floor or the other leg, or if you uncross your arms or move your arms out of position. This is how long you should be able to hold the pose for:

• Age 60–69: 27 seconds
• Age 70-79: 17.2 seconds
• Age 80 and up: 8.5 seconds

 

SIT TO STAND CHALLENGES:

Here are 3 progressive challenges of your ability to get up and down. They progress from easier to more difficult. Move through the challenges in order, only moving on if you successfully complete the preceding challenge.  You may find that you need to work on a specific challenge for some time.  Like the balance test, this will give you a benchmark to gauge your improvement over time.

 
Challenge #1: Chair Sit to Stand

Most of us “older folks” have probably been asked by our doctors to perform the “Chair Sit to Stand” test. The ideal result is that you are able to rise from sitting in a chair without any assistance such as someone pulling you up or using your hands to push up from the arms of the chair.

 

The chair test: sitting to standing without assistance.Samantha Obakazaki / TODAY

IF THIS IS DIFFICULT FOR YOU:
A simple way that can help to overcome this is to practice standing and sitting into a chair without using your hands. As you become more comfortable with this, try to start reducing the height of the chair or bench that you use. The lower you go the more you will strengthen the muscles and move the joints into greater flexibility. Remember to do this gradually and progressively. Taking it step by step and practicing it on a regular basis, can help you master this important skill before you attempt Challenge #2. 

Challenge #2: Step Down, Step Up - This 2 min. video, courtesy of Silver Sneakers, is an excellent explanation of this challenge.

 

 

IF THIS IS DIFFICULT FOR YOU:
Continue to practice as indicated in the video, using supports (stable, solid furniture) if needed. If you can successfully complete Challenge #2, attempt Challenge #3.  

 
Challenge #3: Sit Down and Get Up from Floor - European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention

Basically this tests your ability to sit down on the floor and then get up, using the least amount of support from hands, knees and other body parts.

You can score between 0 – 10 points. 

Score 5 points if you can sit down without touching your knees, legs, hands, or arms on the floor and another 5 points if you can get back up unaided.

Lose a point for each body part that was leaned on while getting down or up. 

From the floor to standing with assistance. Sorry, that's minus two points for using a hand and foot!Samantha Okazaki / TODAY

 

For example: If you can get down touching the floor with just one knee, you score 4 points for getting down.
If you needed to touch a hand and a knee on the floor while getting up, you lose 2 points for a score of 3.
Total score 4 getting down + 3 getting up = 7 out of 10.
If you were wobbly on the way down or up, deduct ½ a point.

Look, Ma’, No Hands! - 5 points for getting up.

From the floor to standing without assistance. No hands! - Samantha Okazaki / TODAY

If this is difficult for you:
Practice, practice, practice! Use your hands, knees, and feet, as needed or solid, stable supports as you build strength and balance.

BUILDING BETTER BALANCE BASIC POSES:

Balance is the key to staying healthy and avoiding falls as you age.  Your ability to balance depends on several different systems: muscular, skeletal, sight, vestibular (inner ear), and the ability of your feet to feel sensations.  Aging can affect all these systems, which challenges your ability to balance.

Regular practice will help improve your control of aging systems that have kept you upright and balanced all these years. 

1. Tall Mountain – Start in Mountain Pose by standing with your feet hip-distance apart, weight evenly distributed between and across your feet. 

• Relax your shoulder blades down your back, chest is open, and lift up through the crown of your head. 
• Lift your arms overhead, notice how you feel.
• For a greater challenge, lift your heels off the ground, perhaps coming to the balls of your feet, heels high. 
• Hold for 3 -5 slow, calm breaths, 3 repetitions.

 

 2. Chair -Start in Mountain Pose.  

• Sit back in an imaginary chair, feel your weight moving into your heels. 
• Keep your knees facing forward as your hips move back and down. 
• Your arms can be at your side, stretched forward at shoulder height, or overhead. 
•  Hold for 3 -5 slow, calm breaths, 3 repetitions.

 

3. Standing Crane FLOW –  Start in Mountain Pose.

 

Straight Leg Crane – 

• Shift your weight to your right leg, extend your left leg in front of you, 
• and extend your arms to the sides at shoulder height. Hold for 3 -5 slow, calm breaths.

 

Leg Swings – 

• Your arms can stay extended or bring your hands into “prayer” position in front of your chest. 
• Inhale, and on the exhale reach your lifted leg across your mid line, crossing in front of your standing leg. 
• Inhale, return the leg to the start position, exhale, cross mid line. Repeat 3-5 times.

 

Bent Leg Crane – 

• Flex your lifted foot and raise your left leg so that the knee is bent. 
• Hold for 3 -5 slow, calm breaths.

Return to Mountain Pose. Repeat with other, right leg extended.

 

4. Standing Star - Start in Mountain Pose.

• Lift your left leg out to the side, and, if you feel stable, slightly backwards.
• For more challenge, lift your leg higher.
• Your pelvis will be at an angle, that’s okay.
• Your arms can be extended or bring your hands into “prayer” position in front of your chest.
• Hold for 3 -5 slow, calm breaths, then switch sides.
  

 

5. Figure Four - Start in Mountain Pose. Your arms can be extended or bring your hands into “prayer” position in front of your chest.


Variation 1 – 

• Cross your left leg over your right, the ball of your left foot resting on the floor. 
• Bend your knees like you are sitting in a chair. 
• Your left toes can rest on the floor or float just above it. Hold for 3 -5 slow, calm breaths, then switch sides.
  

 

 

 

Variation 2 – 

• Cross your left ankle above your right knee, making a figure “4.” Bring your hands to “prayer” position. 
• Check for stability. 
• Then challenge yourself by bending the knee and lowering your hips back and down as if you were sitting in a chair. 
• Hold for 3 -5 slow, calm breaths, then switch sides.

 

 

 “It's paradoxical that the idea of living a long life appeals to everyone, but the idea of getting old doesn't appeal to anyone.”

 ― Andy Rooney

1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23242910/
2. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0531556518304108?via%3Dihub
3. https://www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety/falls/adultfalls.html