The search for longevity in parts of Asia has long been studied, with low obesity rates and diet noted as possible contributing factors. Increasingly, however, yoga emerging as part of the picture.
The “Yoga Village”, located just outside Zhangjiakou in Hebei province in China, has gone viral online.
For elderly residents of the village in their 70s and 80s, yoga is a part of their everyday lives. Doing the splits or a handstand is considered daily exercise within the village.
News channels have divulged videos of a senior in her 70s doing 10 pull-ups in a row at the gym, and of a man in his 80s who can still complete 400 meters in just one minute an 24 seconds.
From 2015 to 2021, the average life expectancy in China increased from 76.34 years to 78.2 years and major health indicators now rank among the top of middle and high-income countries.
Over the years, a key focus of healthcare reform in China has been enhancing community-level medical and health services. At present, 90 per cent of Chinese households are within 15 minutes of a medical centre, and 85.8 per cent of county-level hospitals boast services equivalent to secondary hospitals.
Thanks to the internet, telemedicine services have also been expanded to cover once-impoverished counties and remote areas.
Yoga and longevity
Over time, healthy living has a large impact on life expectancy. Research has shown that the benefits of yoga are tangible and that a consistent yoga practice can aid longevity and increase life span.
According to the University of Washington there are 12 reasons yoga helps improve life span:
- Prevents cartilage and joint breakdown: with a lot of yoga poses including stretching, joints cartilage receive fresh nutrients which helps protect underlying bones. This also helps prevent arthritis.
- Increase bone density and health: many yoga poses require weight bearing, which strengthens bones. Many studies have shown that yoga practice increases overall bone density.
- Increases blood flow: movement brings more oxygen to your cells which function better as a result. Yoga also increases hemoglobin levels in red blood cells, helping prevent strokes and heart attacks.
- Cleanses lymph and immune system: meditation seems to have a positive impact on our immune system, boosting it and lowering it when needed.
- Ups your heart rate: power yoga can boost heart rate which can increase endurance and lower resting heart rate.
- Regulates your adrenal glands: yoga lowers cortisol levels which, if high, can compromise the immune system
- Lowers blood sugar: In people with diabetes, yoga has been found to lower blood sugar by lowering cortisol and adrenaline levels.
- Improves balance: regularly practicing yoga improves balance which could prevent and older person from falling.
- Calms nervous system and helps you sleep better: yoga encourages turning inward of the senses and removal of stimuli, allowing the nervous system to relax. This makes you less tired, stressed and less likely to have accidents.
- Gives your lungs room to breathe: Taking fewer breaths of greater volume improves measures of lung function. This helps prevent asthma attacks.
- Improves digestions: yoga promotes healthy digestion by doing exercises that facilitate more rapid and efficient transport of food and waste products through the bowels.
- Encourages self-care and healthy lifestyle: yoga has the ability to improve self-care and healthy living which, over time, has a large impact on life expectancy.