GROUP CLASSES
What we work on in class.
All group classes include the following elements to enhance your health and ease the aging process:
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Physical Health
*Mobility (not flexibility) The development of a large, comfortable range of motion in our joints and muscles combined with strength and control. Healthy mobility reduces the aches and pains we can experience in the body.
*Posture. We build the strength to stand tall and maintain healthy curves in the spine. This work is so important to reduce the health risks associated with osteoporosis and maintain full lung capacity for cardiovascular health.
*Balance. Falls can be devastating for health and even longevity as we get older. We work on all sorts of balance - standing in one spot, dynamic balance (with movement) on flat surfaces and uneven surfaces, vestibular exercises to improve our balance skills.
*Core strength. Well organized, safe movement comes from a strong core (thighs, hips, low back, abdominal muscles). Training our core muscles will help maintain good posture, balance, muscle mass and bone density.
*Proprioception. Through mindful movement and somatic (inward feeling) exercises we develop a good sense of ourselves and where our body parts are in space for organized, safe and controlled movement. Healthy proprioception reduces our risk of injury or falls.
*Bone density and muscle mass. Without loading our bones and muscles, they atrophy with age. Standing yoga poses load the bones and help them stay dense, and help you maintain muscle mass.
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Mental Health
*Centering/Meditation. Turning our attention inwards and focusing the mind helps us build our power to concentrate, improves memory, and helps us to control and calm our nervous systems.
Being able to self soothe and calm the nervous system improves our mental health with a decrease in depression or anxiety and it promotes good sleep.
*Breath practices. Breath practices help us both physically and mentally. We work on expanding our lung capacity and fortifying our cardiovascular systems (heart and lungs) and circulation. Breath practices, like centering and meditation, can also be used to soothe the nervous system, providing many of the same benefits as Meditation.
Yoga for Healthy Aging Adaptive
In this class we work mostly from the chair, mobilizing joints, breathing deeply and standing for some balance work.
Yoga for Healthy Aging 1
This class starts on the floor for warmup and strengthening, moves to a standing position for half sun salutations, balance work, and standing poses. We finish the class with floor stretches and a relaxation.
Yoga for Healthy Aging 2
I include many of the same elements as Yoga for Healthy Aging 1 along with full, modified sun salutations and more options to progress standing balances and postures.
Yoga for Healthy Aging 3
This class could also be called "Slow Flow". We practice full sun salutations and are up and down from the floor with weight bearing in the lower and upper body. Poses are linked one after the other in a flowing style called Vinyasa.
Flow Yoga
This class is a vinyasa flow class. Poses are linked one after the other with lots of movement from the floor to standing and standing to floor. Get ready for a workout, get your heart beating and a good sweat on!
Yin Yoga
Yin yoga is like a long meditation with the body relaxed into mobility enhancing shapes. We hang out in poses for minutes at a time. Some of the studied benefits of Yin Yoga include a reduction in inflammation and blood pressure, the inhibition of tumor growth, increased mobility and fortification of joints and bones and connective tissue (fascia). My Yin classes have a strong emphasis on self regulation of the mind and nervous system through breath and meditation techniques.