C = circulation

H = healthy aging

A = accessible

I = invigorating

R = rest, relax, renew

Practising balance – the safe way!

Y = for YOU

O = opens

G = graceful

A = ageless

Do Your Family a Favour – Do Your Savasana.

Do Your Friends a Favour – Do Your Savasana.

Do Yourself a Favour –  Do Your Savasana.

SAVASANA – corpse pose: the object in this pose is to imitate a corpse.

• This ‘apparently’ easy posture is one of the most difficult to master. (Keeping the mind still is much more difficult than keeping the body still) 
• In savasana you learn to relax by remaining motionless for some time and keeping the mind still (while you are fully conscious).
• This ‘conscious relaxation’ invigorates and refreshes both the body and the mind,    soothes the nervous system and brings peace of mind.
• If you don’t do your savasana after a yoga practice, you might be cranky for the rest of the day.
• Do your friends, your family and yourself a favour – DO YOUR SAVASANA.

Chair Yoga Savasana

INVERSIONS

Our bodies are shaped by the pull of gravity.

After 50 it is important to reverse the downward pull of gravity because as time goes by our bodies have a tendency to narrow at the top and settle towards the bottom.

Inversions can help by reversing the pull of gravity. This helps the body maintain its balance and symmetry.

Bending forward increases circulation to the brain. This can have a revitalizing and relaxing effect.

By bringing the brain below the heart, Yoga encourages gravity to do the work of supplying blood to the brain without strain on the heart.

So, bend forward once in a while!

Modified Downward Dog

(but check with your doctor first).

• Use a sturdy chair (preferably with NO arms)
• Sit at the front edge of the chair (take a tushy walk)
• Sit tall, straighten your back to lengthen your spine (the highway of the body)
• Pull in the belly button a little (belly to spine)
• Engage your pelvic core (kegel exercises)
• Plant your feet firmly on the floor (use prop if needed) press down on the heels and the toes and the ball of the foot (feeling grounded)
• Feet should be hip width apart (No. 11 shape, railway tracks)
• Head in the center of the shoulders, chin parallel to the floor
• Shoulders relaxed, but open (SBD – shoulders back and down!)
• Tongue gently behind the top teeth, relaxed jaw
• Focused, soft eyes
• Set the gaze
• Relaxed and happy face (lifting up the corners of the mouth)

Yes – really.

'Hands Up'

The idea started with an adapted version of the Hokey Pokey, then mushroomed into the ‘Hora’ on Fridays (for Shabbat Yoga) and now our Chair Yoga Dance repertoire includes the Macarena, Stompa, Hands Up and Twist & Shout. We even tried a little ‘free dancing’ to some Motown music last class (thanks to Judith).

What a fun way to up the cardio; so good for the soul, the mind and the body.

Who said you cannot dance in a chair?

For many, many reasons we stop breathing properly – slowly, deeply, evenly and smoothly.

Incorrect breathing has many, many negative consequences. Our bodies, minds and souls suffer from not enough oxygen.

May we all change our shallow, rapid, irregular breathing into good yogic breathing.

Try this technique and see how you feel:

Breathe through a straw (start with a ‘bubble tea’ straw, and progress to a narrow straw, the kind used for stirring iced coffee!) Try to focus your awareness on your breath, inhaling and exhaling. Let your thoughts and body relax. After a few rounds, you might feel calmer and more energized.  The benefits create a very long list.

Yogic Breathing - doing by feeling

How absolutely wonderful!

“It is not possible to prevent all falls…….but we can limit the number that happen”.

…….results indicate that YOGA may be a promising intervention to manage fear of falling (FoF) and improve balance, thereby reducing fall risk for older adults…….

Yesterday, at Poppy Residence in Burnaby B.C., a polling station took over our regular Chair Yoga space. But, yoga is ADAPTABLE……so we used the beautiful lounge instead.

It is important to practice your balance whenever you can, wherever you can!

shifting weight for Half Moon pose

folding chair & box of kleenex

A good, sturdy, folding chair is obvious – but a box of keenex?

Well, try doing a good round of Kapalabati (alternate nostril breathing) with a stuffed or blocked nose!

Namaste

Specialized Yoga Teachers are needed. More and more opportunities are available in hospitals, day-centres, long-term care facilities, community centres, privates residences and retirement homes.

Enjoy a challenging but rewarding yoga career!

Date June 12th-16th, 2013
Daily Schedule Wednesday to Friday: 7am – 3:45pm
Saturday: 12:30pm – 5:30pm
Sunday: 12:15pm – 5:45pm
Total Hours 35 hrs
Format Part Time
Location City Studio, Vancouver
Cost $475
Contact 604.739.2009
info@semperviva.com

Pranayama plays a vital role in keeping the body healthy, especially as we get older.

“I seem to take less of my allergy medication on yoga days…..it must be because all that breathing is good for me!”

87 year old resident at Windermere Care Centre, Vancouver B.C.

April 11th, 2013

Yoga with a Chair – say what? Yes, yoga using a chair. For older adults and people of any age with varying physical limitations, using a chair instead of the traditional mat is what makes yoga’s amazing fitness and health potential both accessible and safe.

Older Adults represent the fastest growing sector of our population and they are increasingly drawn to yoga.  This phenomenon is creating an increasing demand for well-trained yoga teachers. It is essential that yoga teachers learn how to best serve older students and students with limited mobility and/or other concerns.

Chair Yoga Teacher Training with Annette Wertman is for Yoga Teachers with their 200 hour certification working towards their AYTT (500 hour certificate) and for anyone seeking to experience the benefits of Chair Yoga as well as health professionals, body workers, physical therapists and exercise instructors who work with older adults and persons with other issues and/ or concerns.

Training will include:

• Rationale, myths, populations, guidelines of teaching Chair Yoga
• Applying pranayama, meditation and yoga philosophy
• Health challenges and concerns
• Chair Yoga poses
• Chair Yoga practice
• Sequencing the Chair Yoga practice
• Practical teaching experience
• Business of teaching Chair Yoga

This program is a module of the AYTT program that leads to 500 hour certification.

For 200 hour Yoga Alliance certified teachers the credits of the course can be applied towards the 500 hour certification, and is eligible for 35 hours CEU with Yoga Alliance. Continuing Education Units are required to maintain your status as a Registered Yoga Teacher.

Upon completion of this course and full payment, students will receive a Certificate of Completion documenting participation and attendance. In order to be a certified yoga teacher, students must also have completed a 200 hour Yoga Alliance Yoga Teacher Training.

Extra Extra Read All About It! AYTT announcement:

200 Hr. Certified Yoga Teachers can NOW choose CHAIR YOGA.

Chair Yoga is now one of the modules that can be selected

in order to complete 
the additional 300 hours of Teacher Training.

This 5 day Teacher Training course will provide

35 hours toward 
the 500 hour Yoga Teaching Certificate.

For more information STAY TUNED!

The Toronto Yoga Show (March 27 – 30, 2013) features Chair Yoga.

• Learn to Teach Chair Yoga – Improve Your Balance & Flexibility: March 21 11:00 – 6:00 pm.
• Chair Yoga Fusion: March 24 4:30 – 6:30 pm

It feels good...and yoga is fun!

Check out: theyogaconference.com

The 11th Commandment: INHALE to lengthen, EXHALE to move.

It is imperative for yoga instructors – in service of ahimsa –  to be guardians of safety. Creating a safe environment and an effective yoga practice for the Older Adult is truly a challenge.

Breathing is the most important part of yoga because it focuses the mind and calms the nervous system. So JUST BREATHE.

              Inhale to what? To Lengthen!

Why is the breath so important?

• mindful breathing takes into consideration the 3 purposes of breathing; replenishing, warming and cleansing.
• serves to slow down the heart which in turn improves focus and increases concentration
• training the mind to follow the breath brings peace and reflection and insight and health
• expands the lung’s capacity to handle an increased amount of oxygen intake to rejuvenate, repair and create new cells
• your breath is the voice of your spirit. It’s depth, smoothness, sound and rate reflect your mood.
• if you become aware of your breath and breathe the way you do when you are calm – you will become calm.