National Fitness Day

Health and Wellbeing is so important, including during these uncertain times, and National Fitness Day is the perfect chance to get active.

Hearing loss can come on very gradually, and is often something many people choose to put off dealing with. However, taking care of your hearing is an essential part of maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle as you age. 

While hearing loss cannot be reversed, there are things you can do to help prevent or delay it from happening.

Yoga for Hearing

Yoga offers a multitude of health benefits to body, mind, and soul. Did you know that specific yoga poses can be supportive of your hearing as well? The way that yoga can keep your hearing healthy is by increasing circulation in your brain and your ear. Improved circulation enhances the function of your nerves, and helps detoxify your cells.

The best yoga poses to improve your circulation are the Tree, Cobra, Triangle, and Camel pose. Research has shown that yoga can even reduce the symptoms of tinnitus – a perception of ringing or noise in the ear. Start practicing yoga regularly, and you may find that your anxiety and stress levels also decrease.

Daily Exercise

Daily movement is essential not only for ear health but for achieving optimum health for your body and mind. Staying active each day enhances your wellbeing in so many different ways. You don’t have to run a half a marathon every day to reap the health-enhancing benefits of exercise. Choose a physical activity that you enjoy, such as walking, jogging, swimming, jumping, yoga, or perhaps gardening. Any of these activities will help get your blood pumping and improve your circulation. The key is to stick with it and make physical activity a regular part of your daily routine.

Exercise does wonders for blood circulation to your inner ear. The “hearing part” of the inner ear, called cochlea, benefits significantly from the increased blood flow. The cochlea is a vital component of your auditory system, as it converts sound vibrations into nerve impulses.

If you don’t like working out, don’t worry. Even a relatively small amount of exercise (two times a week) can have a positive effect on hearing loss. Be careful not to exercise with headphones for an extended period of time and avoid loud music. Loud noise is known to cause damage to your ear hairs, and those that you lose, cannot be replaced. The best way to gauge whether your music is too loud is if people can hear the music playing in your headset.

Practice Meditation

Meditation is an ancient practice with numerous studies supporting its multitude of benefits to your health. Many people are surprised to hear that it can even help prevent or delay age-related hearing loss. When you sit in silence and turn your attention within, you assist your body to regulate your blood pressure, blood flow, and normalise other physiological processes. Meditation has a profound ability to reduce your stress, and by that, diminish its potential negative impact on all your bodily systems.

This simple yet powerful practice encourages deep relaxation and increases blood flow to your brain. When you tune in to the sounds around you, or other ambient sounds, such as birds chirping, you inadvertently work on your hearing. By using sounds to meditate, you will be far more attuned to them throughout your day. Over time, your subconscious mind will assist in helping you notice certain smaller sounds, that you may have missed before. Even though this may be a mental hearing improvement, its effect is still powerful.

Meditating in a park allows you to immerse yourself in a whole host of different sounds. Doing deep breathing exercises as part of your meditation will oxygenate your blood and increase your blood circulation. Alternate focusing your attention into the body and then on all the sounds around you.

Steven Ross (MSHAA, RHAD) 
Director

58 Cadzow Street,
Hamilton,
ML3 6DS

t:   01698 283549
m: 07340 746950

e: info@lanarkshirehearingcentre.co.uk

www.lanarkshirehearingcentre.co.uk