Yoga is an age-old meditative practice that has often been associated with younger Americans. But it is fast becoming a hot health trend for people over 50 who are looking to improve their mental and physical well-being, and stave off the chronic ills of aging.

“Yoga is a great way to prevent aches and pains and also helps to maintain flexibility and help the mental state as well,” Dr. Gerald McGwin tells Newsmax Health.

“In addition to the physical aspect of it, there is something about yoga that helps to clear the mind,” adds McGwin, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Alabama in Birmingham.

The number of people practicing yoga in the U.S. was up to 36.7 million in 2016, compared to 20.4 million in 2012, according to a recent Yoga in America Study.

Of these, about 14 million are over the age of 50, and four million people age 55 and over have taken up yoga since 2012, according to the study, which was sponsored by Yoga Journal and the Yoga Alliance, a nonprofit organization representing yoga teachers, schools, and studios.

“Yoga has a number of benefits for people who are older,” says Stephen Fletcher, a certified yoga instructor and owner of Yoga Circle in Birmingham.

“As people get older, they may fall into the mindset that says, ‘I’m getting old, so there are things I can’t do.’ Yoga helps expand those boundaries, and opens people up to future possibilities of what they can do.”

Yoga is a group of mental, physical, and spiritual practices that originated in ancient India. In the U.S., it is mainly practiced for health and relaxation. While there are several styles of yoga, commonalities include breath control, simple meditation, and the adoption of specific bodily postures.

Studies have shown that yoga has a number of health benefits, working to ease stress and anxiety, lower blood pressure, and even alleviate the pain of arthritis in older Americans.

But yoga for older people is not without risk, says McGwin, director of the Center for Injury Sciences. His own research has shown that although yoga is basically safe for older people, there is a risk of injury for some.

According to McGwin's research, the injury rate for yoga participants aged 65 and older was 58 per 100,000, compared to 18 per 100,000 for those ages 45-64. People 18-44 years of age had the lowest rate of injury - 12 per 100,000.

"There are many benefits to yoga, but there is a risk for older people that should not be ignored,” he adds.

Research has found that yoga can help to relieve and treat pain from several chronic conditions, but has other benefits, as well. Among them:

Osteoarthritis: A University of Pennsylvania study of people aged 50 and over with knee arthritis found that those taking 90-minute modified classes weekly for two months reported significant reductions in pain, less joint stiffness, and better physical functioning.

Rheumatoid arthritis: Rheumatoid arthritis is a particularly painful disease, but a study of women that practiced yoga twice weekly reported less pain, disability, and fatigue, as well as better general health, mood, and quality of life, according to a University of California at Los Angeles Medical Center study.

Fatigue: Ohio State University researchers looked at the impact of yoga on breast cancer patients and found that those who participated in a twice weekly, 90-minute class for 12 weeks experienced less fatigue and more vitality even three months after treatment had ended.

Inflammation: Yoga may help lessen chronic, bodily inflammation, which increasingly is seen as a driver in many forms of arthritis, as well as a culprit in the development of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. In that Ohio State University study cited above, researchers measured levels of three cytokines, proteins in the blood that are markers for inflammation, and found that yoga helped reduce them by 10-15 percent.

Pain relief: Yoga helps people suffering from low back pain. One study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, found that among 313 people with chronic low back pain, a weekly yoga class increased mobility more than standard medical care for the condition. Another study published at nearly the same time found that the benefits of yoga were comparable to standard exercise therapy.

Fibromyalgia: Yoga can help relieve the widespread pain, fatigue and depression that may come with fibromyalgia. An Oregon Health and Science University study found female fibromyalgia patients who participated in an eight-week yoga program reported less pain, fatigue, stiffness, poor sleep, depression, poor memory, and anxiety, and gained better balance than a control group that took medication for the ailment.

Sleep problems: Insomnia is a vexing problem that can occur for no known reason, or it can be associated with cancer and chronic pain conditions. A Harvard Medical School study of insomnia patients found that, after eight weeks of daily yoga practice, they reported broad improvements in many aspects of sleep, including their quantity and quality of slumber.

Yoga can pose physical challenges for some older people who lack muscle strength, balance, or are afraid of falling while engaging in the practice. For such individuals, a form of the discipline, known as chair yoga, may be a better option.

Chair yoga is a gentle form of yoga that is practiced sitting on a chair, or standing using a chair for support. Often the poses, or asanas, are adaptations of hatha yoga poses.

A new study from Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton designed to look at alternative ways of treating osteoarthritis without drugs found chair yoga was beneficial to older adults with hip, knee or ankle arthritis. The researchers found the patients' pain significantly diminished after taking up chair yoga, according to the study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

If you're thinking about giving yoga a try, here are Fletcher's tips for getting started:

• Chose a certified yoga instructor who is accustomed to working with older people, and will know how to modify certain poses and make the class more accessible and safer. Look for an instructor with at least five years of experience.
• Select a slower paced type of yoga. Faster, more intense forms of yoga, like power, vinyasa or ashtanga, may not be as well-suited for older people. On the other hand, Iyengar yoga involves slower movements, emphasizes alignment, and allows participants to use blocks, blankets, and other props to aid balance. Hot yoga, which is performed in warm, humid conditions, may be soothing for people with arthritis.
• Don’t overlook the benefits of yoga breathing. This form of breathing, which is done deeply through the nose, helps improve lung capacity and reduce stress.
• Backward stretching works with your whole body and is a great way to help increase your flexibility and banish stiffness. “With the right instructor and practice, yoga can even reverse the humps in people’s backs that can come with aging,” says Fletcher
• Work at your own pace. Don’t feel that you have to do everything. You can rest – you don’t have to push yourself, yoga is not a competition, but you also need to spur your body on. "It's a delicate balance," adds Fletcher.