Mercy Hospital Washington (Missouri) is offering free yoga for people over 60 “aimed at preventing osteoporosis and other health issues that affect many seniors”.

Announcement says that anyone aged sixty or more, “who is interested in increasing their strength and flexibility”, can enroll in this free yoga program, starting March six.
Melissa Duchatschek is the instructor.

Meanwhile Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today, termed it as a step in the positive direction to make multi-benefit yoga available free to seniors for preventive health issues. Zed urged all major US hospitals to launch free yoga classes for seniors.

Yoga, referred as “a living fossil”, was a mental and physical discipline, for everybody to share and benefit from, whose traces went back to around 2,000 BCE to Indus Valley civilization, Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, noted.

Rajan Zed further said that yoga, although introduced and nourished by Hinduism, was a world heritage and liberation powerhouse to be utilized by all. According to Patanjali who codified it in Yoga Sutra, yoga was a methodical effort to attain perfection, through the control of the different elements of human nature, physical and psychical.

According to US National Institutes of Health, yoga may help one to feel more relaxed, be more flexible, improve posture, breathe deeply, and get rid of stress. According to a “2016 Yoga in America Study”, about 37 million Americans (which included many celebrities) now practice yoga; and yoga is strongly correlated with having a positive self image. Yoga was the repository of something basic in the human soul and psyche, Zed added.

Mercy, a Catholic health care system, whose mission includes “we bring to life the healing ministry of Jesus”, was named as “one of the top five large U.S. health systems in 2016”. Founded by the Sisters of Mercy, it claims to serve millions annually. Lynn Britton is President/Chief Executive Officer.

Founded in 1926, Mercy Hospital – Washington is an acute care hospital offering comprehensive medical, surgical, obstetric and pediatric services and serving Franklin, Gasconade, Crawford, St. Charles and Warren counties.