Thursday, 31 August 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The trend of senior citizens in Dehradun seeking physical fitness through enrolment in yoga classes and laughter clubs has been gaining momentum. Experts point out that integrating laughter and yoga into an exercise regimen for elderly individuals can enhance their mental well-being, aerobic endurance and confidence in their physical abilities. By opting for yoga classes and joining laughter clubs, seniors can alleviate and overcome the challenge of loneliness that has become common in today’s nuclear family structures. It is an imperative now for everyone to consider participating in these classes to successfully combat the prevailing lifestyle disorders in the society, the experts opined.
A local yoga teacher Abhishek Kandwal said while talking to this correspondent that senior citizens are evincing increased interest in maintaining good health post-the Covid-19 pandemic. “They actively engage in numerous physical activities, including joining yoga and laughter clubs. These activities prove highly beneficial for the elderly as they help them counteract the debilitating feeling of isolation and ailments such as heart problems and sugar and blood pressure complications,” he added.
Further, the State president of HelpAge India Krishna Avatar said, “The craze for physical activity is clearly discernible in the city’s elderly people. I myself run yoga classes where senior citizens come in large numbers and they love performing physical activities. Performance of physical activities not just enhances the senior citizens’ health but prevents them from falling prey to lifestyle disorders. Participation in laughing classes is another beneficial exercise that must be opted for by every senior citizen. Laughing helps relaxation while boosting every part of the body. So, they must opt for such activities to keep lifestyle diseases such as hypertension at bay.”
Talking to The Pioneer on this matter, a physician at CMI Hospital Anshika Jain said, “It is absolutely true that doing yoga and meditation as well as joining laughing classes play an immensely beneficial role, particularly for the elderly people. Participation in such classes eases heart complications and loneliness-spawned depression. This apart, I may say these activities increase their life span.”
