Meet your neighbours while doing yoga!
We’re reaping the benefits of chair yoga and having fun Monday mornings from 9:00-10:00 am at Condo 518 in Vancouver.
Contact me for more information about this class or to make arrangements to enjoy chair yoga lessons in your house or condo. There’s no better way to start the day!
I will be leading a chair yoga session as part of a joint national conference hosted by the Canadian Coalition for Seniors’ Mental Health and the Canadian Academy of Geriatric Psychiatry.
The session will be on Saturday, September 21, 2:30pm, in Banff, Alberta. For more information, visit the conference website.
Come to beautiful Banff and learn all about chair yoga and its benefits for mental health. This promises to be a fantastic event and is open to everyone, professional or otherwise. I hope to see you there!
Le bidet pose
Make sure to read my new article about chair yoga in the the summer edition of FitLifeBC (the quarterly magazine of the British Columbia Parks and Recreation Association).
To learn more, come to my Chair Yoga for the Older Adult workshop this Sunday, from 2:45-4:15 p.m at the Birch Building at Capilano University.
This workshop is part of the BCPRA’s BC Fit ’12 Conference, which runs from September 7-9. I hope to see you and your friends there! Everyone is welcome!
Chair yoga at Melabev Day Centre, Jerusalem
August was a very busy month for Ageless Yoga!
On the 15th, I presented Yoga for Fall Prevention at the 8th World Congress on Active Ageing, held in Glasgow.
On August 20th , 21st and 22nd, I led Chair Yoga sessions at Melabev, a day centre for older adults in Jerusalem.
On the 24th, I led a two-hour workshop, Teaching Chair Yoga, for yoga students and teachers at Tel Aviv’s Lotus Yoga School.
The presentations and workshops were well-attended and the feedback was excellent. I encourage yoga teachers everywhere to share yoga with older adults!
Opening the heart
Yesterday I gave an introductory chair yoga class to members of the South Burnaby Neighborhood House.
As the members finished their lunches, I set up my PowerPoint presentation and started some background “yoga music” on my iPod. I must admit, I was a little nervous, thinking the members would not be receptive to yoga. But I was pleasantly mistaken!
After a few slides introducing yoga, I led the class through a 45-minute chair yoga session. We began with pranayama (breathing exercises), then continued with modified hatha, yin, and kundalini poses. After these balancing poses, we cooled down with some forward folds and twists and then savasana (relaxation pose).
I was pleased that everyone participated so enthusiastically and to the best of their abilities. The feedback I received after Namaste was absolutely heartfelt: “This was the best presentation I have heard in a long time;” “Wow, I am going to start doing yoga because I love this stuff;” “I feel so much more energy now;” “Please come back soon and do more yoga with us!”
When I say "ageless," I mean ageless!
I just completed an intensive, 95-hour Kids Yoga Teaching Training course sponsored by Semperviva Yoga Center and taught by Jacqueline Maloney.
The course was fun and I learned a great deal. Understanding how bones grow and the role of muscles, ligaments, and tendons is an important part of teaching yoga, especially for children, who are growing as we teach.
Jacqueline is an excellent teacher and provided ample opportunity to practice, teach, and plan yoga lessons for all ages of children – from pre-school to teenagers!
Chair yoga savasana
The chair yoga classes have been going very well. The older yogis say they can feel a difference from all the flexibility, strengthening, balancing, and breathing exercises!
I have been concerned, however, about the rounded shoulders in the savasana pose. I discussed this with my last yoga class and asked the students if they would feel comfortable leaning back in their chairs with their arms hanging back and down, as shown in the photo. The students said the new pose felt fine and so we’ll be using it in future sessions because I think it’s better for the shoulders.
Yoga Outreach at Sunrise Mental Health
Today was the last of four yoga sessions organized by Vancouver Coastal Health’s Older Adult Rehabilitation Program. Also called Bright Spot, the program is designed to help older adults who have been diagnosed with clinical depression, anxiety, dementia, or other major mental health conditions. Research has demonstrated that yoga can help improve the health and well-being of older adults with these conditions.
Over the course of the program, participants learned breathing exercises, gentle asanas (poses), balancing exercises, and savasana (relaxation). Most popular today seemed to be the shoulder massage at the end of the 60-minute session!
I’m grateful for the honorarium I received for leading the yoga classes, although the best gift was a small prayer book given to me by Margaret, one of the participants. To Margaret and all the other ladies, please remember yoga and me by taking the time to breathe deeply and practise your poses!
Shalom and namaste to everyone. I hope to return next year!
Modified downward dog
About a dozen people showed up for a great chair yoga session at the Yoga for Boomers workshop at Semperviva Yoga. Among the participants were both novices and experts.
We spent a good deal of time discussing the importance of balance, flexibility, and proper breathing as we age. To improve each of these, we learned a variety of asanas (poses) while sitting on and standing near a chair. Everyone agreed that the chair allowed for greater accessibility and a feeling of safety. To encourage everyone to practise the asanas on a regular basis, I gave them a Chair Yoga for Home worksheet.
Many participants commented that their confidence to practise yoga had improved and that they felt relaxed and refreshed after the two-hour session.
This workshop was a great success and I am planning a follow-up session for the near future. Stay tuned for more details!
Raising arms and inhaling
Do you think yoga is beyond your ability? Are you scared or uncomfortable getting up and down from a mat? Then you might want to try chair yoga at Semperviva Yoga’s upcoming workshop, Yoga for Boomers.
Date: Saturday, June 23rd, 2012
Time: 1:00pm – 3:00pm
Location: City Studio, Semperviva Yoga, 1985 West Broadway, Suite 100
Cost: $30.00 + HST. Bring a friend and receive a 50% discount.
Contact: 604.739.2009 or info@semperviva.com
This is a modified version of regular yoga, in which the mat replaces the chair, offering increased accessibility, stability, and safety. The chair reduces fear while encouraging challenge.
Chair yoga is appropriate for men and women all ages and abilities that find traditional yoga uncomfortable and/or inaccessible. This includes older adults, people with physical limitations/disabilities, and those with health issues such as high blood pressure, anxiety, fatigue, arthritis, vertigo, multiple sclerosis, menopause, osteoporosis, carpal tunnel syndrome, depression, and chronic pain.
Chair yoga encompasses all aspects of the individual: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. Chair yoga increases strength, flexibility, concentration, balance, energy, range of motion, breathing capacity, circulation, and confidence. Chair yoga encourages quiet reflection, relaxation, better posture, and a sense of well-being.
Breathing techniques and modified traditional yoga poses in a supportive group atmosphere.
Loose fitting, comfortable clothes.
Holding the leg correctly
On May 19th, Pam, Bobbi, and Annette met in Bobbi’s backyard for the third meeting of our new group, Vancouver Yoga Teachers for Older Adults.
We had a wonderful time catching up, sharing ideas, and enjoying some goodies. Bobbi led a thorough discussion about yoga and the knees and demonstrated some of the asanas (poses) she does with students in her chair yoga class at the Kitsilano Community Center. Pam has volunteered to talk about laughter yoga at the next meeting, which will be on a Sunday evening in September. Stay tuned to this website for more details!
It's good to feel the ground
During every chair yoga class, I encourage my students to remove their shoes and socks. I tell them that it’s good to feel the floor with their toes and that some of the asanas (poses) will be feel more accessible. They often respond that “the floor feels too cold” or “yuck, the floor is dirty.”
Alas, one of my students suggested a solution to these problems: a regular yoga mat, cut in half and placed in front of the chair, right below the feet. At then end of class, the mats are sprayed and sponged with a solution of tea tree oil and water, left to dry, and then stored for the next yoga class.
Thanks to this great idea, more and more of my students are removing their shoes and socks! Come talk to me about where you can find a good, reasonably-priced yoga mat.
Poster for my thesis proposal defense
Twenty people showed up to support me as I defended my thesis proposal at the SFU campus in Vancouver, BC. Among the attendees were friends, family, other yoga teachers, and some of my clients. Thank you all so much for attending!
The critiques from my committee member were very helpful, as were the questions and suggestions from the audience members.
I’m now refining my study questionnaire in light of this feedback. I hope to do a preliminary, “pilot” study in the next few days, before I launch the questionnaire online.
Some of the comments from audience members:
Your presentation was very professional-looking and confidently delivered. It was a joy to see you present!
Congratulations on your academic success. I can honestly say that I admire your focus, intelligence, and tenacity.
Your presentation was well-prepared and researched and a great entertaining presentation and a topic that I think is really current and necessary.
I was very impressed. I think your research will be instrumental in introducing more and more older adults to the benefits of yoga.
Annette in Costa Rica
You are all invited to attend the proposal defense for my MA thesis, Yoga and the Older Adult: An Exploration into Pathways, Barriers and Experiences.
This presentation is designed to facilitate the development of my research topic by soliciting feedback and guidance and to make certain that my research plan will meet the expectations of my committee members before a significant portion of the work is undertaken.
The defense will be on Friday, April 20th, 2012, from 1:00 – 2:30 p.m, in Room 2260 at Simon Fraser University’s Harbour Centre Campus (right across from the Waterfront Skytrain Station). I hope to see some of you there and hear some of your feedback!
Balasana rest pose
Dedicated yogis are coming to my condo on Saturday afternoons for stretching, strengthening, balancing, breathing, and relaxation. What a joy!
