As a Chair Yoga Teacher, I hear a lot of stories from my students about their health. One of the topics I love the most are the “near fall” stories. You know the ones where you almost trip, but catch yourself. Or if a fall occurs, no damage is done.
Janet, a 70-something Chair Yoga student, recently shared with me how she and a friend were walking along the harbor and her friend pointed to a new restuarant. Janet looked and kept walking… and yes, you guessed it, she tripped. She landed on both arms and one knee. She got a bit scraped up but … no broken bones!
She went on to tell me that within the last 10 years, she had been diagnosed with Osteopenia (predecessor to Osteoporosis) and started taking a recommended prescription drug. She investigated other options and decided to try Yoga and walking. Wa-la! She is off her bone medication and out of the Osteopenia red zone!
The moral of the story is …. Bones Build strength when they are stressed and called upon to perform. It’s basic Physics and Anatomy!
Wolff’s Law: Bone in a healthy person will adapt to the loads under which its placed. If loading on a particular bone increases, the bone will remodel itself over time to become stronger to resist that sort of loading. The inverse is true as well, if the loading on the bone decreases, the bone will become less dense and weaker due to the lack of stimulus required for bone remodeling. Reduction in bone density is Osteopenia. (Wolff was a German Anatomist and Surgeon in the 19th Century)
So, YES, even the gentler forms of Yoga that we offer here at YogaJP can help you build stronger bones!
Keep Doing Yoga!
Sherry
