Class Description

Yoga for Healthy Aging — Eventually our bodies don't work as well as they did when we were young. Contrary to what we'd like to believe, yoga does not protect us from illness, aging, and death — even the sages grappled with that. But yoga does provide us with a toolbox for fostering a longer health span: physical health tools for body and brain, stress management tools, and equanimity tools. These include pranayama (breathing techniques), mantras (sound), meditation, and asanas (yoga postures) appropriate for the aging body.

Physical skills
The four key physical skills for staying independent are strength, flexibility, balance, and agility. John leads you through various practices to enhance each of these skills.

Strength
A normal part of aging is losing muscle mass, especially after the age of 50. Yoga poses such as standing backbends, forward bends, twists, side bends, and inverted poses help strengthen muscles. We also lose bone density as we age, which makes us susceptible to fractures. Bone strengthening starts after 10 seconds into a pose. For strengthening both bones and muscles, we work up to holding poses for 90 seconds, while also performing isometric contractions, which also takes pressure off the joints. The thoracic spine (mid-back) is at the greatest risk for fracture (followed by the wrist, then the neck of the femur, or the upper thigh bone), which is almost exclusively related to poor posture. The poses we do in the class help correct poor posture. In addition, strengthening practices have been shown to increase cognitive functioning. Strengthen your legs and improve your brain.

Balance
We have fun with balance poses; both static and dynamic. For a more challenging variation, we try stepping onto a block. In addition to improving physical balance, these poses improve mental focus. Variation is important for cultivating balance. So we add more challenging poses and create new ones that your brain has not yet figured out. As a way of adding variability, we add sound and use your arms in various ways.

Flexibility and agility
Most yoga poses promote flexibility; agility is the ability to quickly change direction during a series of movements, both dynamic and static. A Vinyasa flow style of practice (dynamic) helps maintain coordination and speed. The process of entering and exiting static poses along with the precise positions held improves agility and coordination. Studies show that people who have better transfer ability actually live longer than those with poor transfer ability. Practicing poses that promote agility also improves our reaction time.

Emotional stability and stress management:
Stress management tools of yoga prevent major age-related diseases. Chronic stress has been linked to the development of abnormal heart rhythms and heart disease. When the body experiences higher levels of stress, it wears out faster. Yoga practices of pranayama and meditation quiet the nervous system, lower anxiety, and bring us back into a state of equanimity and balance — in other words, from a state of fight-or-flight to rest-and-digest. Learning to accepting that change is inevitable, opening our minds to new possibilities, and facing difficult challenges go hand in hand with reducing the stress in our lives.

Brain health
As we age, our mental capacity and functions also change. Baxter outlined six ways that yoga helps the brain:

Involves engagement in physical activity

Manages chronic stress

Promotes better sleep — gives the body time to heal itself; clears toxins from the brain and body

Keeps us mentally active and involves more than one of our senses

Provides social activity — attending yoga classes and creating community and interaction

Supports healthy eating — improves digestion, prevents stress eating, and makes us aware of what our body really needs and what it doesn't.

Recommendations for Older Students

Inform your teacher if you have any issues, injuries, or health conditions

Pay attention to pain, especially in the joints. Back out of a pose if you feel pain

Listen to your breath; relax your breath and come out of a pose if you can't relax it

Rest if you need to

Stay balanced when doing standing poses. Use props or the wall if necessary

Use props (any time)

Resist peer pressure. Every body is differen

Do inverted poses only if they are okay for you. Contraindications may include high blood pressure, glaucoma, and neck issues

Talk to your doctor about specific movements you should avoid

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About the Studio

The old Freemason's Lodge has been nicely converted into a studio space, it's wonderfully large allowing for lots of room to stretch out. So know that there's always space for you and there's no need to book in advance (or know secret hand-shakes). The floor is padded, so there's cushioning for your knees and joints and there's changing rooms with bathrooms for both men and women. Please arrive 10 minutes before class and if it's your fist-time allow 15 mins to read our waiver. Street parking is available, be sure to get a 2 hour minimum spot as the class is 75 minute. We recommend bringing your own mat — if you forget it we have some for rent for $2. Wear something comfortable that allows for a deep stretch. Classes are designed for all ages and levels.

Location

The studio is located in the Qi Martial Arts building at 15b Church Street, Brighton, Vic 3186. Enter the studio from the laneway off Church Street, opposite the Dendy Theatre. Street parking is available — be sure to allow 2 hours as classes run for 75 minutes

Class Prices

Classes are 75 minutes. $22 for a drop-in or save money by buying a pass: $100 for 5 classes, (valid for 3 months from the date of purchase). $180 for 10 classes, (valid for 6 months from the date of purchase). Pay by cash, card — Visa, MasterCard or AMEX. *If you received a postcard or a flyer from us, redeem the postcard for 50% off your first class — normally $22 but with the postcard it costs just $11 — an $11 savings. Limit one postcard per person. Valid until October 31st, 2019. We also offer 2 hour monthly workshops please email us to reserve a space or for more information.

About the Studio

You're in good hands — Mary and John are trained in Therapeutic Yoga from Loyola Marymount University, and the Stress Center of Marin where they also served as Teaching faculty. They completed training as iRest meditation teachers from Dr Richard Miller. iRest is a research-based practice of deep meditation & self inquiry for trauma, anxiety, PTSD, relaxation, resiliency and general well-being. John has 20 years experience in Martial Arts and holds a black belt in karate and 5 years of teaching group Yoga classes. They have studied with teachers Dr. Baxter Bell on Healthy Aging, Mingtong Gu, Master Li and Dr. Liu Dong, (Healing Medical Qi Gong) and Restorative Yoga with Judith Lasater.