Margaret Kirkwood, an 83-year-old resident of Sydney, was put to the test with a potentially life-changing diagnosis. First, she had a misstep while climbing up the stairs in her house and fractured her hip. Just a week after surgery, she was on her feet, thanks to many years of yoga practice, which saved her life and led to her quick recovery. Kirkwood has been practicing Iyengar Yoga—two classes a week—on and off for the last 25 years. Her case amplifies a growing public health crisis across Australia. In fact, falls have become the leading cause of hospitalizations and injury-related deaths across the nation.
In Australia, we should expect that every day, about 364 older people are hospitalized due to falls, emphasizing prevention strategies are a top priority. In another recent example, the University of Florida studied using yoga as an intervention to help cut falls among seniors. To study these factors, researchers recruited 700 participants age 60 and older. This study focused on finding out if attending regular yoga classes would reduce the risk of falling for older adults.
Study participants attended two ballroom dance classes per week for a total of 48 weeks. Fifty percent of the cohort engaged in Iyengar yoga, while the other 50% performed chair-based breathing and stretching exercises. Researchers consistently monitored the number of fall incidents incurred by each group during the duration of the study.
Even with these expectations, we were shocked to find that yoga didn’t work as a fall prevention. In fact, the yoga cohort self-reported 33 percent more falls than the non-yoga group at 276 versus 164 falls. Surprisingly though, only 15 percent of the yoga practitioners incurred serious injuries due to their falls. In contrast, 13 percent of the control group suffered similar injuries.
Anne Tiedemann, the lead researcher on the paper, said she was shocked by the results.
“We have a lot of evidence that exercise, challenges, and balance can prevent falls … We also know that older people like to do yoga, so we thought it’s important to know whether it also prevents falls,” – Anne Tiedemann.
Those unanticipated findings led to the consideration of multiple scenario factors that could have impacted the results. With the COVID-19 pandemic requiring a move to virtual learning, that added an element of newness and uncertainty that could have impacted participants’ focus and experience.
Jean Leow, a yoga instructor involved in the study, emphasised the importance of tailoring classes to meet the individual needs and abilities of students.
“I can’t emphasise enough the amount of customisation we as teachers have to be accountable for,” – Jean Leow.
Leow further stressed that senior falls cannot be completely prevented. It’s important to know how to reduce the severity of those injuries when they do happen.
“The aim is to help the older person understand what to do when they do fall, and how to correct themselves so they can arrest it and rebalance. That means they may still fall, but they’re not going to hurt themselves in the process,” – Jean Leow.
Kirkwood’s story is an example of how a commitment to regular physical activity provides protection from the dangers of falling. She reflected on her situation:
“If I weren’t strong, I would have had a really bad fall,” – Margaret Kirkwood.
While the study’s findings may challenge conventional wisdom about yoga’s role in preventing falls, Tiedemann remains optimistic about its broader benefits.
“I would not be promoting this type of yoga program for falls as the outcome, but it did have other benefits. People were more active and more likely to reach the goals they set,” – Anne Tiedemann.
The study’s results underscore the fact that multifactorial factors are at play in making seniors vulnerable to falls. Tiedemann commented:
“It’s a combination of the environment, your behaviour, and your physiology which determines if you fall or not,” – Anne Tiedemann.
She noted her enjoyment in working with seniors who enthusiastically engage in yoga classes:
“I love working with seniors. When they come to a class, they really take it on and I’m surprised by how well they adapt,” – Jean Leow.
