"May we be filled with loving kindness. May we be well. May we be peaceful and at ease."
Anyone can do yoga and this week I was teaching a hatha chair yoga class for seniors at the Gainesville Healthcare Center.
Chair yoga is a gentle yoga practice using a chair rather than a yoga mat. Chair yoga students can be of any age or experience level. Many of the seniors were in wheelchairs and others were just seated in chairs which didn’t even matter since we remained seated for the entire practice.
We started our Gainesville chair yoga by focusing on our breath and taking deep inhalations and exhalations. Next, we warmed up our fingers, wrists and shoulders, eventually incorporating full upper-body movements and gentle twists. We also chanted the vowel sound of our names simultaneously creating the sound of “om.” I ended the chair yoga practice with a yoga nidra for seniors focused around bringing love into our hearts and growing strong spreading love to others around us.
The seniors’ responses after the 30 minutes of chair yoga were amazing! It felt wonderful to see all of the seniors smiling and rejuvenated from our chair yoga practice. The subtle yoga movements stretching and detoxifying our arms, fingers, wrists, shoulders, and spine increased our bodies circulation. The breathing all increased the oxygen flow into our bodies. What was most amazing to me, being a power and ashtanga yogi was how much I could taste the toxins in my mouth from such small gentle movements…sometimes it’s the gentle yoga practice that were receive the most benefit from. And it’s the little things we take for granted, like wiggling our fingers and bending our wrists.
I look forward to teaching more seniors yoga at other Gainesville Healthcare facilities. Incorporating wheelchair yoga for seniors at these facilities will benefit seniors physically and mentally. Contact Yogi Raina today to setup your Gainesville chair yoga class for seniors, group and private lessons available.
Posted by Raina on Wednesday, October 15, 2008