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By Kimberly Carson, MPH, C-IAYT, E-RYT
Managing the emotional and physical challenges that come with aging can be difficult. But as yoga therapist Carol Krucoff of Duke Integrative Medicine notes, “If you think yoga is just for twenty-somethings in spandex, think again. All you need to do to be able to practice yoga is to breathe.”
Of course, seniors face a number of age-related issues, such as chronic pain, hypertension, heart disease, osteoporosis, arthritis, and anxiety, and depression. But there is a growing body of evidence that suggests yoga can be beneficial for a wide variety of age-related ailments.
Yoga: It’s Not Just for the Young
Growing a beautiful, productive garden is more complex than just supplying water, appropriate sunlight and good soil. Among other things, you must consider the effects of neighboring plants.
Helping children grow is similarly complex.
As teachers, counselors, and therapists are intimately aware, working with children also requires consideration of the conditions of the community surrounding the child. The health and balance of the family, as well as of the educators, all can influence how well the child thrives.
As Yoga Calm aims to serve this community of familial and professional adults, as well the children, we’re committed to making its practices safe and effective for everyone across the lifespan.
Advances in healthcare and technology over the last century have created the possibility of enjoying many more years of this beautiful life. In fact, the average life expectancy in 1900 was around 47; now, it is around 77. However, with almost a quarter of us expected to live to 100 by the year 2050, we find ourselves with a historically unique challenge of learning how to best honor ourselves as we accrue even more years on the planet.
Not surprisingly, many activities quite appealing to us when we are younger may become less suitable for our maturing bodies and minds. In grade school, we may have adored cookies and juice as an afternoon snack. As adults, we may find we fare better with a more nutritious choice.
Our yoga practice can also benefit from important refinements as we change across the lifespan. Many practices that felt well suited to us in our 20s may not be as appropriate as we move through our 50s, 60s or 70s. Changes in our physiology as we age compel us to consider more carefully the choices we make for our bodies.
Teaching Yoga to Seniors: Essential Considerations
Introducing yoga to older adults is an inspiring process that helps clarify these choices. Maintaining strength, balance and a calm mental focus are critical life skills for maintaining optimal quality of life. The practices, however, must be considered in the context of aging bodies and minds to avoid the potential for considerable harm.
For example, the load on the vascular system and the heart with even mild inversions must be carefully considered in older bodies. Where osteoporosis or low bone mass are concerned, it is critical to consider how movements load the spine.
Several years ago, we published a paper in the Journal of Complimentary and Alternative Medicine which addresses some of the important issues to consider when introducing yoga to older adults. If you would like a PDF reprint of this article, click here.
Yoga Calm is committed to training educators in the most safe and effective methods for using yoga-based skills, regardless of one’s phase along the life span. The result of this commitment is our Teaching Yoga to Seniors certificate training course – a 20-hour online course that you can do anywhere, anytime, and at any pace you choose, taught by myself and Carol Krucoff and created in collaboration with top medical experts from Duke University.
Together we combined the best of current, evidence-based medicine with the ancient wisdom, experience and tradition of Yogic teachings. The result is an opportunity for you to participate in specially designed yoga sessions where you experientially learn how to appropriately modify postures for safe and effective work with older adults, with emphasis on individuals new to yoga.
We love working with seniors and want to share with you the rewards that come from supporting the health of our elders, honoring their stories, and witnessing the beauty and power of the ever-young human spirit and its fullest expression at this important stage of life.
Learn more about the course or register now!
Kimberly Carson, MPH, C-IAYT, E-RYT, is a health educator and yoga therapist at Oregon Health & Science University, specializing in the therapeutic use of mindfulness and yoga for seniors and people with medical challenges. She has taught Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) for close to 20 years and has developed and taught yoga programs being researched at Duke University Medical Center and OHSU. She also co-directs national professional trainings for yoga teachers at OHSU and Duke Integrative Medicine
Updated from the original
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