How my yoga practice has changed

 

Because of an injury to my femur , (possibly caused by overstretching) I have done alot of research to heal and restore my leg and hip.   This has led me to put less emphasis on asanas and more emphasis on strengthening the muscles and the nervous system which includes the spinal column and the brain

This is what I have found to be helpful as I age. (I'm now 72)

Priority: Building Cognitive Resilience:

Keys to Enhancing and Protecting Your Long-term Brain Health

Cognitive reserve — the brain's protective buffer against dementia and Alzheimer's — isn't inherited but built through modifiable lifestyle factors, with movement and yoga showing some of the strongest evidence.

Research links yoga's balance and coordination training to measurable memory improvements within 12 weeks, a larger hippocampus with sustained practice, and reduced fall risk, while breath-based attention training keeps neural networks active.

Breathwork, gentle self-applied touch, and yoga postures build the nervous system's capacity to recover from daily stress rather than just manage it.