After teaching chair yoga for several years Liz Franklin can testify that it appropriate for almost anyone, even if they are feeling the effects of aging or have physical limitations. It is not for hard-bodied 20-somethings that can twist themselves into poses that look impossible ? the only prerequisite is that you can sit in a chair, including a wheelchair.
What better way to illustrate how chair yoga has benefited those unable to attend a traditional yoga class than to tell it in their own words?
Hi! I?m Keri Rodriguez. I?m a 46-year-old Assessment Crisis Center Specialist. I have been practicing Liz Franklin?s Yoga in Chairs? for people with Multiple Sclerosis since the first class in August of 2005.
I came to the first class because I wasn?t willing to give into Multiple Sclerosis. I felt I needed to do whatever I could do to help myself both mentally and physically. I was a little dubious at first because I wasn?t sure I could physically do yoga. Liz showed me how I can succeed!
Liz is a great teacher. She makes every class feel good for us by adapting to our changing needs every week. Every class is a great experience for me. It is so wonderful to be with a group of people who truly understand what it means to live with MS. My success in the class has helped in the rest of my life.
The benefits I have received from my practice are too numerous to list here, but I have more flexibility, more energy, more confidence and it has helped me stay focused and on task. I have learned how to deal with anxiety and stress in a more positive fashion. My job is very high stress and practicing yoga has helped me stay focused on the client I am with at the moment. I also feel I am more centered and less reactive in both my professional and personal life.
Even if you don?t think you can do this or that you?re going to like it, you need to try because you?re going to love it! You can do this. It doesn?t matter where you are physically or mentally, you will be in a better place after you practice. It is so easy to incorporate the lessons into your daily life. It doesn?t take long and it makes your day go so much better.
Mark Franklin enjoys telling people about Liz Franklin’s Yoga In Chairs(r) because he knows it is helping people live healthier, happier, and longer lives. If you want to find out about her special style of chair yoga, visit http://www.yogainchairs.com.
Showing posts with label multiple sclerosis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label multiple sclerosis. Show all posts
February 26, 2009
Yoga - In Sickness And In Health
If one of your priorities in life is to keep in shape physically and mentally then yoga is the answer. Yoga is practised by millions of people and is on the increase daily. How many to be precise is hard to say but a calculator would struggle to keep up with the figures. This exercise has become a way of life for many people who can not do without their intake of this healthy type of regime.
Yoga is a comforting and enjoyable where routines are followed consisting of poses and bodily postures that give the body a healthy look and feel. An additional bonus to yoga is you get to unwind/relax while at the same tending to your body needs.
Without doubt it is known to ease stress and research behind the scenes of yoga discovered that certain illnesses have been calmed for those who practice this exercise. Disorders namely anxiety, blood pressure, back pain, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and many more have been controlled by a yoga way of life. Other sicknesses that have come under threat of being eased or even abolished are arthritis, chronic fatigue, headaches. People have found it has a strong influence on reducing asthma. It is no wonder why this routine is practised on a regular basis with the positive effects it has on ailing patients. Now that the benefits have finally been recognised it is becoming a phenomenal craze and why wouldnt it when the rewards are greater than that of winning the lottery. No amount of money can buy a content mind - healthy body and soul.
Pleasing experiences generated from yoga is the sense of well being where stress is eased and forgotten while you lapse into a sedate frame of mind.
Reasons why people have chosen to take up yoga are because of how it helps tone muscle/flexibility and strengthens stamina pace. Obese participants understand how beneficial it is helping them to burn off excess fat without the demand tactics like that of a strenuous assault course.
Yoga and concentration are a very compatible twosome, if working hand in hand it helps to improve creativity.
The positive side to yoga is where it gives you control in tending to your body needs naturally instead of turning to medicinal pills (Depending of course of your condition) Yoga is as positive as you can get.
Keeping your body fit is important so a healthy blood circulation is imminent to keep organs and veins functioning properly. Your immune system if stimulated is a force strong enough to fight sickness.
Yoga and how it affects each individual differs greatly but does it matter as long as it leads to a healthier life?
Psychological, mental and physical sicknesses are just a few main factors why people are joining in the fun of yoga and claiming control over their health. Forget any belief you may have that yoga is a religious activity, quite the opposite in fact.
You and yoga a match made in heaven. In a nutshell - in sickness and health.
100% fit mind and body is what healthy living is all about. Yoga helps you claim what is rightfully yours. A content mind the natural way. http://www.want2yoga.com Move on with your life http://www.allaboutonlineeducation.com
Yoga is a comforting and enjoyable where routines are followed consisting of poses and bodily postures that give the body a healthy look and feel. An additional bonus to yoga is you get to unwind/relax while at the same tending to your body needs.
Without doubt it is known to ease stress and research behind the scenes of yoga discovered that certain illnesses have been calmed for those who practice this exercise. Disorders namely anxiety, blood pressure, back pain, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and many more have been controlled by a yoga way of life. Other sicknesses that have come under threat of being eased or even abolished are arthritis, chronic fatigue, headaches. People have found it has a strong influence on reducing asthma. It is no wonder why this routine is practised on a regular basis with the positive effects it has on ailing patients. Now that the benefits have finally been recognised it is becoming a phenomenal craze and why wouldnt it when the rewards are greater than that of winning the lottery. No amount of money can buy a content mind - healthy body and soul.
Pleasing experiences generated from yoga is the sense of well being where stress is eased and forgotten while you lapse into a sedate frame of mind.
Reasons why people have chosen to take up yoga are because of how it helps tone muscle/flexibility and strengthens stamina pace. Obese participants understand how beneficial it is helping them to burn off excess fat without the demand tactics like that of a strenuous assault course.
Yoga and concentration are a very compatible twosome, if working hand in hand it helps to improve creativity.
The positive side to yoga is where it gives you control in tending to your body needs naturally instead of turning to medicinal pills (Depending of course of your condition) Yoga is as positive as you can get.
Keeping your body fit is important so a healthy blood circulation is imminent to keep organs and veins functioning properly. Your immune system if stimulated is a force strong enough to fight sickness.
Yoga and how it affects each individual differs greatly but does it matter as long as it leads to a healthier life?
Psychological, mental and physical sicknesses are just a few main factors why people are joining in the fun of yoga and claiming control over their health. Forget any belief you may have that yoga is a religious activity, quite the opposite in fact.
You and yoga a match made in heaven. In a nutshell - in sickness and health.
100% fit mind and body is what healthy living is all about. Yoga helps you claim what is rightfully yours. A content mind the natural way. http://www.want2yoga.com Move on with your life http://www.allaboutonlineeducation.com
February 25, 2009
Five Reasons for Yoga Instructors to Teach Chair Yoga
1) Your students truly benefit from it.
Your students will likely be either seniors or those with physical limitations. Especially in the case of someone that has not been exercising at all because of their condition, you will often see rapid improvements. Prospective students sometimes report feeling better after a single class.
Liz knew that she was on to something from that very first demonstration to the senior?s group at our church. After the demo, one of the women rushed up to Liz and put her hands in Liz? hands. ?Do you feel that?? she said, ?my hands haven?t felt warm in years!?
While we don’t promise miracles (and neither should you!) we’ve seen chair yoga lower students’ blood pressure, cause them to stop needing anti-anxiety medicine, allow them to sleep better, regain height, relieve the symptoms of chronic diseases such as multiple sclerosis, and much more. Students’ health care professionals will sometimes notice the difference chair yoga is making and ask what they are doing differently. Of course, the patient is always told to keep it up!
2) Your work will be truly appreciated and you?ll hear about it, too.
You will often enjoy having people tell you about all the wonderful things that chair yoga has done to make them more comfortable, healthier, and happier.
Those of us that are younger and don’t have a debilitating condition tend to take some things for granted. Chair yoga might help a person raise their arm above their heads to reach something, or turn their head back to check traffic, when they had lost the ability to do so. I think I’d be appreciative, too!
3) Millions of prospective students and growing daily.
I just saw a statistic that blew my mind ? one baby boomer turns 50 every 8 seconds!
So much has been said about the value of marketing into the coming boom in baby boomer seniors that I shouldn’t have to convince you. Besides, we can all see it happening right before our very eyes.
As a yoga instructor, adding chair yoga to your list of teaching skills is a good way to take advantage of this social phenomenon.
Baby boomers aren’t much interested in retiring to sit back in a rocking chair and wait while their bodies deteriorate from disuse. So no matter what age or stage they are in, they will be seeking ways to keep themselves fit.
Baby boomers are more likely to consider alternate approaches to staying healthy than previous generations, so they will be much more likely to be receptive to the notion of practicing yoga. In fact, many will have some sort of prior experience with yoga, as we have seen.
The oldest of the boomers are just now turning 60, so it is a great time to get serious about teaching chair yoga!
4) There is an abundance of ready-made classes to find.
Most yoga classes come about in an organic fashion, adding one or two students at a time. But by teaching chair yoga, you can find yourself starting whole new classes with several customers all at once.
This is because you are often taking the yoga class to the people where they are already congregating. One of the biggest markets for chair yoga is seniors, and seniors are easy to find already in a group together.
Just where to go will vary depending on where you live, but here are a few ideas to get you started thinking about this:
? Retirement villages, retirement centers, assisted living centers, nursing homes
? Adult day care
? Seniors’ groups at places of worship
? Community centers/Parks and recreation programs
? Fraternal organizations
? Libraries
? YMCA/YWCA
People suffering from particular ailments such as multiple sclerosis or arthritis tend to get together to help each other cope with the disease. All you have to do is find the organizations in your neighborhood that are addressing this need and approach them with the idea of helping the group practice chair yoga. Yoga has been shown to effectively ease the symptoms of many types of ailments, and yet few have anyplace to go where there is a yoga program appropriate for them.
With some brainstorming you can probably come up with a pretty good list appropriate for the circumstances in your community.
The beauty of approaching these groups is that you almost always are proposing to teach yoga to people that never imagined they’d be in a yoga class. That means you aren’t competing with all the yoga teachers trying to capture classes out of the existing pool of practicing yogis and yoginis.
Just how you go about approaching these types of organizations is something that we go into detail about in our Yoga In Chairs teacher training intensives and the materials for the at-home training program.
5) Enjoy having loyal students.
There are many reasons why chair yoga students will be more loyal to you than students in your more traditional classes.
It is likely that they were introduced to yoga by you or by the leadership of the group they are in. Since they never had a notion to seek out yoga before, they will be much less inclined to look for alternative teachers in your area. Plus, as has already been noted, they probably don’t have many other chair yoga programs to turn to, even if they wanted to have choices.
If you take the class to the students it is of course easy for them to participate every time you are there.
Most of your chair yoga customers will be mature people who know the value of being considered reliable. This means that when they make a commitment to participate in a program, they likely will follow through.
In fact, Liz’ students typically call or email her if they are not able to come to class for some reason. She, in turn, contacts them if she notices they were absent from class, especially if it is longer than a few weeks. By simply staying in touch in an unobtrusive way she retains more students.
If you are a yoga instructor and you aren?t already teaching chair yoga, you are encouraged to do so. Not only will you have more classes to teach, but also you will be making a REAL difference in the world.
Mark Franklin enjoys telling people about Liz Franklin’s Yoga In Chairs? because he knows it is helping people live healthier, happier, and longer lives. If you are a yoga teacher and you want to find out how you can build your practice while doing some REAL good in the world teaching chair yoga, visit http://www.yogainchairs.com/teacher.asp
Your students will likely be either seniors or those with physical limitations. Especially in the case of someone that has not been exercising at all because of their condition, you will often see rapid improvements. Prospective students sometimes report feeling better after a single class.
Liz knew that she was on to something from that very first demonstration to the senior?s group at our church. After the demo, one of the women rushed up to Liz and put her hands in Liz? hands. ?Do you feel that?? she said, ?my hands haven?t felt warm in years!?
While we don’t promise miracles (and neither should you!) we’ve seen chair yoga lower students’ blood pressure, cause them to stop needing anti-anxiety medicine, allow them to sleep better, regain height, relieve the symptoms of chronic diseases such as multiple sclerosis, and much more. Students’ health care professionals will sometimes notice the difference chair yoga is making and ask what they are doing differently. Of course, the patient is always told to keep it up!
2) Your work will be truly appreciated and you?ll hear about it, too.
You will often enjoy having people tell you about all the wonderful things that chair yoga has done to make them more comfortable, healthier, and happier.
Those of us that are younger and don’t have a debilitating condition tend to take some things for granted. Chair yoga might help a person raise their arm above their heads to reach something, or turn their head back to check traffic, when they had lost the ability to do so. I think I’d be appreciative, too!
3) Millions of prospective students and growing daily.
I just saw a statistic that blew my mind ? one baby boomer turns 50 every 8 seconds!
So much has been said about the value of marketing into the coming boom in baby boomer seniors that I shouldn’t have to convince you. Besides, we can all see it happening right before our very eyes.
As a yoga instructor, adding chair yoga to your list of teaching skills is a good way to take advantage of this social phenomenon.
Baby boomers aren’t much interested in retiring to sit back in a rocking chair and wait while their bodies deteriorate from disuse. So no matter what age or stage they are in, they will be seeking ways to keep themselves fit.
Baby boomers are more likely to consider alternate approaches to staying healthy than previous generations, so they will be much more likely to be receptive to the notion of practicing yoga. In fact, many will have some sort of prior experience with yoga, as we have seen.
The oldest of the boomers are just now turning 60, so it is a great time to get serious about teaching chair yoga!
4) There is an abundance of ready-made classes to find.
Most yoga classes come about in an organic fashion, adding one or two students at a time. But by teaching chair yoga, you can find yourself starting whole new classes with several customers all at once.
This is because you are often taking the yoga class to the people where they are already congregating. One of the biggest markets for chair yoga is seniors, and seniors are easy to find already in a group together.
Just where to go will vary depending on where you live, but here are a few ideas to get you started thinking about this:
? Retirement villages, retirement centers, assisted living centers, nursing homes
? Adult day care
? Seniors’ groups at places of worship
? Community centers/Parks and recreation programs
? Fraternal organizations
? Libraries
? YMCA/YWCA
People suffering from particular ailments such as multiple sclerosis or arthritis tend to get together to help each other cope with the disease. All you have to do is find the organizations in your neighborhood that are addressing this need and approach them with the idea of helping the group practice chair yoga. Yoga has been shown to effectively ease the symptoms of many types of ailments, and yet few have anyplace to go where there is a yoga program appropriate for them.
With some brainstorming you can probably come up with a pretty good list appropriate for the circumstances in your community.
The beauty of approaching these groups is that you almost always are proposing to teach yoga to people that never imagined they’d be in a yoga class. That means you aren’t competing with all the yoga teachers trying to capture classes out of the existing pool of practicing yogis and yoginis.
Just how you go about approaching these types of organizations is something that we go into detail about in our Yoga In Chairs teacher training intensives and the materials for the at-home training program.
5) Enjoy having loyal students.
There are many reasons why chair yoga students will be more loyal to you than students in your more traditional classes.
It is likely that they were introduced to yoga by you or by the leadership of the group they are in. Since they never had a notion to seek out yoga before, they will be much less inclined to look for alternative teachers in your area. Plus, as has already been noted, they probably don’t have many other chair yoga programs to turn to, even if they wanted to have choices.
If you take the class to the students it is of course easy for them to participate every time you are there.
Most of your chair yoga customers will be mature people who know the value of being considered reliable. This means that when they make a commitment to participate in a program, they likely will follow through.
In fact, Liz’ students typically call or email her if they are not able to come to class for some reason. She, in turn, contacts them if she notices they were absent from class, especially if it is longer than a few weeks. By simply staying in touch in an unobtrusive way she retains more students.
If you are a yoga instructor and you aren?t already teaching chair yoga, you are encouraged to do so. Not only will you have more classes to teach, but also you will be making a REAL difference in the world.
Mark Franklin enjoys telling people about Liz Franklin’s Yoga In Chairs? because he knows it is helping people live healthier, happier, and longer lives. If you are a yoga teacher and you want to find out how you can build your practice while doing some REAL good in the world teaching chair yoga, visit http://www.yogainchairs.com/teacher.asp
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