Exercise is often cited as one of the best ways to improve health, and this, in turn, can increase your longevity.
An expert explained why yoga could be the workout to incorporate into your routine for healthy ageing and a longer life.
The gentle form of exercise can help you build muscle while helping joints, bones and balance, which can all make the ageing process easier.
Founder of Y4P and yoga teacher Sophia Drozd said: "Yoga really can boost longevity if practised regularly due to its benefits to both physical and mental health.
Yoga can improve health and mobility as you age
GETTY
"It helps with strengthening bones and improving joint health, maintaining mobility and balance, reducing inflammation, improving the immune function as well as increasing blood flow for a healthy heart."
There has been a lot of research into how yoga can affect your lifespan, including a recent 2025 study published in MBC Public Health.
It examined 279,885 middle-aged and older adults to find that yoga practice was linked to a lower prevalence of multiple chronic conditions, suggesting that yoga may contribute to healthier ageing and potentially enhance longevity by reducing the risk of age-related diseases.
Additionally, a systematic review and meta-analysis published in the Annals of Internal Medicine in 2023 analysed 33 randomised controlled trials involving over 2,000 participants aged 65 and older.
The study concluded that yoga interventions improved key indicators of physical frailty, such as walking speed and lower extremity strength.
Having better health and mobility in later life is associated with increased independence and reduced mortality risk in older adults.
Yoga has also been shown to reduce stress and improve mood, which can be more important for lifespan than many people realise.
Sophie added: "Yoga can also help to reduce stress, releasing those feel-good hormones, boosting mood. Mental health is just as important as physical health when it comes to the lifespan."
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
This type of exercise is gentle and can reduce stress
PAWhat you eat is also important, and health experts shared the longevity-boosting foods to eat more of for a "longer, healthier" life.
Fruits such as berries, citrus fruits and apples, and black tea could be the secret to longevity, according to new research.
The research analysed the diets and health outcomes of more than 86,000 participants over 24 years.
It found fruit and black tea consumption lowers the risk of frailty, impaired physical function and poor mental health, which are all signs of unhealthy ageing.
