One simple exercise can "slow down" ageing: science broadcaster Dr Michael Mosley
Emmy-nominated Dr Michael Mosley, who has a podcast Just One Thing on the BBC, claims that yoga is the best tool to slow down ageing.
He looked into research suggesting that yoga boosts strength and flexibility, enhances mood, and reduces stress and anxiety and might be able to "delay or slow down the rate of cellular ageing".
Yoga has been practiced for at least 5,000 years and became popular worldwide in the 19th century when photos allowed the various movements and poses to be easily shared around the globe. Although there are many different types of yoga, there are five well-known variants – Vinyasa, Astanga, Hatha, Iyengar, and Hot Yoga.
Dr Mosley looked at Hatha yoga and found some startling results.
"There are many different types of yoga practices, but generally it involves physical poses, breath control and meditation. Doing it regularly has shown to lower chronic inflammation, which could help reduce depression and anxiety, and some exciting new research suggests it could even benefit you at a cellular level," he said.
"There is some really interesting research that suggests that doing regular yoga can lower chronic inflammation – which is linked to heart disease and cancer – and also doing yoga can boost your mood, which might help you with motivation and get you going in other areas of activity. Research shows that this mind-body intervention really does come with a wide range of health benefits."
Yoga focuses on strength, flexibility and breathing to boost physical and mental wellbeing. There is evidence that regular yoga practice helps people with high blood pressure, heart disease, aches and pains (including lower back pain), depression and stress.
The Australian Government has a list of mobile applications that includes instructional videos and other digital resources for yoga.
