For the past couple of weeks I have had the immense pleasure of teaching yoga at a local retirement home. This arrangement came about when the facility was looking for a substitute for their regular fitness instructor. They were hesitant at first when I suggested yoga, and I don’t blame them for being that way. The majority of yoga pictures we see in our society are of young, svelte people who have twisted their bodies into postures that the average person, including myself, will probably never be able to accomplish.
But then there is Chair Yoga.
Chair Yoga you say????
That’s right, I teach a style of yoga in which we use a chair as our base and as a prop to make yoga accessible for everyone. In addition to the retirement home, I also teach this style of yoga at a physical therapy center for patients recovering from knee and back surgery, and starting next month I will be teaching to individuals who are coping with MS.
If you looked in the exercise room at this retirement home you would not see anyone doing a downward facing dog. What you would see is a group of happy people who are working on posture, sitting up straight, opening their chests, joint mobility, coordination and breathing, just to name a few things. And you know what… they love it. When I come to teach, half of them are already ready and waiting for me.
So, if these 70 and 80 year young individuals can do yoga, anybody can!
Although we’re not in the 70 – 80 range (yet), Jo, Sue and I loved the Chair Yoga classes you taught last summer at OBX. It surprised us at how similar the poses felt, and how good they felt, without being on the floor.
I love that you are sharing your talents with such a diverse group of people. Makes a mother proud.