Blog
May 2008
I received my Silver Age Yoga certification to teach senior citizens about a month ago and have been teaching a free class each week at the Savannah Senior Citizens, Inc. I have about 8 students signed up and we have a great time each Tuesday, breathing and stretching.
So far we have done most classes sitting or standing with the chair, but we are starting to move to the mat and I hope to have all of the students getting up and down from their yoga mats - without using the chair for assistance - by the time the eight week session is over.
I get some good questions from the students, but the best so far has been " Yoga is not a cult is it?" One of the ladies told her daughter that she was taking yoga at SCI and apparently she was not very supportive. She infomred her mother that Yoga is a cult and that she would rather she did not attend the classes.
I explained that yoga is neither a cult nor a religion and was glad I had some copies of Yoga Journal's FAQ to hand out so that they could learn a little more about this ancient tradition and teach the younger generation more about it!
Just got back from a weekend of yoga and relaxation at the Hostel in the Forest , which is about 80 miles south of Savannah. The hostel is in a secluded area close to Brunswick, GA and Jekyll Island. We just went up for one night, so we stuck to the grounds and had a great time. Lodging is either in really cool rustic tree houses or a bigger bunk house (which is wehere I stayed because I made my reservations at the last minute). They have a beautiful clear swimming hole with a big floating platform in the middle. The food was great and we met some really wonderful folks from all over the U.S. and around the world.
In addition to all of the amazing things to do, they have an octagonal glass house which is perfect for practicing yoga. Kate, Stephanie and I practiced in it on Saturday afternoon and then on Sunday morning I led a class for a bunch of the guests and staff. Since getting back to the SAV I have been starting to talk to them about hosting some yoga retreats there sometime this summer.
I have been talking about trying to set up a prgram for teaching yoga to seniors for some time. Serendipitously (is that a word?) Kelley Boyd told us a few weeks ago that Savannah's Senior Citizens, Inc. was looking for someone to start teaching at the senior center.
I have since signed up to get certified by Silverage Yoga. This organization offers a supplementary certifcation course for RYT certified teachers. The program focuses on senior health issues and a safe asana practice that can be done in chairs and/or on the floor. I am almost through with the online certification and working on a sequence based largely on chair poses with some floor work. I'll have to wait and see what the students' abilities are before I know whether getting up and down off the floor is going to work with this group.
My hope is that the students will rediscover their flexibility, balance, and strength and manage stress.
