My commute is 62 miles each way, each day of the week. Yet at the arriving end of my morning drive is a community of teachers and students who have collectively given me a wonderful gift this school year – the gift of teaching yoga to a multitude of different people.

In the Fall, I had the priviledge of leading a Limber Up and Relax Your Mind yoga session for grandparents on Grandparents Day. I also had the opportunity, thanks to the sixth grade Science teacher, to do a session on stress and relaxation with all of her classes (amounting to the entire sixth grade). 

In the Winter, I facilitated two sessions on yoga for fourth and fifth graders, as well as a few teachers, as part of our Unite For Understanding program. And then came the most recent delight – facilitating after school yoga for relaxation sessions with faculty, the first session which was yesterday.

The joy of being able to guide people in relaxation, in nurturing their bodies and their minds, is a phenomonal gift. I am not referring to any gift of teaching, but rather to the gift received from the smiles on students' faces, by seeing them relax into their bodies, by observing their physical demeanor unwind and release, by seeing and hearing the giggles of delight as understanding takes a new form or stress seeps away.

I was honored to be asked to lead this faculty session, and immediately at the end offered to lead more in the weeks ahead, as we wind down the school year. I will not be returning to this school; the commute is too wearing and expensive, but I will remain grateful for this gift of sharing the peace, joy and relaxation of yoga.

Below is the playlist and sequence for the first faculty session.

For the past two Friday's I have had the pleasurable opportunity to teach a seated yoga class at The Atria, a senior living community near my home. Typical of me, in the weeks prior a lot of planning went into the sequences and music choices. Despite being well prepared, the night before the first class found me sleeping in fits as the class-to-be played over and over in my sleeping mind.

Of course, by Friday morning and the time of the class, all the advance preparation paid off as my anticipatory energy was focused on guiding everyone through a safe and fun experience that I was prepared for inside-out. Still, my legs were shaking as I drove the 20 minutes to The Atria!

The first class was comprised of 11 people, two who were in wheel chairs and one who used a walker. I would guess that the youngest person was in her late 60s or early 70s, and the oldest was 90, as she told me after the class had ended. She was so relaxed by the end of class that during savassanah we heard her snoring! And I was tickled that the group even had a male participant.

Not knowing much in advance about the students, I planned a gentle seated yoga class and kept to that pace throughout. Feedback was mostly positive, although 88 year old Marge said she hadn't liked the pace as she was used to doing mat yoga on the floor. Debbie and Marilyn, both in wheel chairs, liked the pace of the class, and a number of people liked the music choices, though Marjorie noted she found it difficult to concentrate during the song with words. Someone else appreciated the breathing exercises. And I was asked if this would be a regular class, and regretably had to explain it was just a two week sample (due to this being my school vacation), but if response to the class was positive, I would be able to return during the summer.

During the week between sessions I mulled over the feedback and decided not to change the music; I could simply lower the volume on the song with words if Marjorie returned for the second session. I did decide to increase the duration of the class by adding one song. We went from just over a 40 minute class to an almost 50 minute class. I had been forewarned that people often did not show up on time for classes (which turned out to be quite accurate!), and since my classes begin with an introduction, a reminder about listening to your body, and a poetry reading, 50 minutes of yoga was quite adequate for the hour's time slot.

Besides adding a song, I added several other standing poses to the class sequence. Turns out this was a big hit the second week. Ann joked that I was more tuckered out than everyone else, and Ernesta said the second class was more vigourous and she found that enjoyable. Several folks chimed in with agreement. 

The second session had many returnees from the previous week, including Marge (who likes mat yoga) but not Marjorie, as well as several new participants, upping yesterday's numbers to the total number of chairs (it was either 14 or 16). I was pleased that Jimmy returned, and also had my first blind student. This was a particular boon to my teaching, as I was able to gauge the quality of my verbal cues and adjust accordingly.

Marge is a woman of very definite opinions (we had a wonderful conversation about yoga after the first session) and during the second session she had some commentary to offer the aide of one of the attendees. Both Singh and Fay particpated in the class, though Fay remained seated throughout, even though she expressed interest in standing. She happened to be sitting next to me, and I made sure she was able to see my movements so she could mimic them from her seated position. She arrived in a wheel chair and Singh helped her to transfer to a regular chair for the class.

Well, Marge was not pleased that Singh was participating in the class, and felt that Singh should be assisting Fay with the movements. This point was made to Singh, and then Marge resumed her yoga practice. I heard the conversation, but since it was quietly done and over within moments, decided to continue class without pausing. 

For any of you who teach, I am curious how you would have handled the situation. After class, when everyone but Singh and Fay had left, Singh talked to me about the interaction. She felt that Fay should do as much for herself as possible, and I agreed with her. My sense was Fay did just fine, that standing on her own would have been difficult and probably not very safe, and that the more Fay had to initiate and follow through, as well as ask me questions, the better she was exercising not just her body but her mind, as well. 

Overall, these two Friday sessions have been thoroughly enjoyable for me! The experience of planning and teaching, coupled with my Sunday Yoga Songfests, makes me so eager for the Let Your Yoga Dance and LYYD for Special Populations trainings this spring and summer!!! (In the next week or two, upon return from this vacation, I will be asking my school Head for the time off in May. Here's hoping she says yes!)

My Unite For Understanding plan was to provide opportunity to be as physical as possible while developing an understanding of the many types of yoga – the yoga I teach and and the yoga I practice. I teach yoga to people with big hearts and varying degrees of mobility. I teach people with dementia and Alzheimer's, and people with Parkinson's, and people who are simply older and dealing with the life of a healthy aging body.

I practice yoga flow, asanas (poses) that fluidly move my body from breathing and warming up to movement to winding down and relaxation.

Each of these practices focus on the breath and on contemplation, be it quiet, meditative contemplation, or hearty sounds of singing or chanting.

You can read my plan here, and perhaps get a stronger sense of the sessions from the pictures below. This first set is of our seated sun salutation. 

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Click here to download:

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And these are when we were mirroring.

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unite-for-understanding-what-we-did-HFrCpEhdGBGxsGmugsvz.zip (717 KB)

Wish I had pictures of us taking turns leading dancers across the floor, keeping in mind the types of movements possible if we all had Parkinson's.

Images from various photograpers, including Judy Sirota Rosenthal

Of all my yoga teachers, it is Deb who often reads to us, sharing a selection or two of someone else's words that always seem to resonnate with my mood at that moment. Deb has an uncanny eye for seaking out those words, and there have been multiple times when I have asked for a copy of the day's reading.

And so I was delighted to follow a tweet to the poetry of YOGA, "a new anthology of contemporary poetry" as described on The Daily Downward Dog. The blogger invites visitors to this post to leave a comment, and states that she will be giving away two copies of the book. Could not resist leaving the following:

I came to yoga later in life
And discovered its benefits
For healing emotional strife.

Helped me deal with tears and sadness
When my Dad was aging and ill.
And now with open gladness
I share so others have their positive fill.

Poetry is yoga practiced on a page.

Last Thursday was Unite For Understanding day at my school. The entire day was devoted to exploring multiculturalism and diversity through workshops, assemblies, music, art, food, dance and movement. Some of the many topics explored included homelessness, the inventive mind, living in other countries, hearing issues, living with a physical disability, conflict resolution, the Haitian earthquake, gay families, civil rights, adoption, and being a refugee. Workshops were facilitated by faculty, former students, current parents, and outside speakers.

I had the pleasure of being asked to do a yoga workshop, and the even greater pleasure of having it meet during both workshop sessions. My first group had 13 students and two faculty, my second group had six students and one faculty. Both sessions were an hour and followed the same format, more or less.

After changing my mind several times regarding the approach to take, and wanting to provide opportunity for the kids to learn about yoga from multiple perspectives, I settled my plan on three strands:

• experiencing the type of yoga I teach
• experiencing the type of yoga I practice
• learning a little about the history and meaning of yoga

Both sessions were full of movement (in a chair and on their feet), a little bit of chanting, talking and quiet. We had warm ups, seated chair yoga, dancing, yoga as you might practice at a studio, and relaxation coupled with self-massage.

Below is a photo from one of my sessions. This was at the beginning, when we were doing a seated Sun Salutation, as taught to me by Misty Owens during my Dance for PD training last November.

photo by Judy Sirota Rosenthal

My school has off for two weeks in March, and once each week I will be teaching Seated Yoga, Your Way!  to a group of people who live at Atria Senior Living, an independent living community about 15-20 minutes from my house. I am excited for these two sessions, which will run for an hour each Friday morning, because if they go well, there is a strong likelihood the class will become a summer series.

 

Yes, I am, doing it. IT being volunteering at the Pavilion on Sundays from 11 a.m. till noon to facilitate movement to music. Call it yoga, if you like, but it is more a seated Sunday songfest of movement to music.

Anywhere from 15 to 23 people join me in a comfortable room with a CD player and excellent sound system. I pop in the CD and we get our juices going. Everyone has some mobility issue. Most people are in wheel chairs, some use walkers to help with their balance. Everyone fits somewhere on the dementia--> Alzheimer's spectrum.

More or less arranged in a circle, some folks sing or hum along to the tunes, some move on their own, most move when I gently take their hands to get them going, some continue moving after I swing off to the next person, some sleep, some tap their feet. Last Sunday, Virginia did a mean bit of dancing and hip wiggling on her feet as she sashayed across the room to head to the loo and then continued dancing upon returning to her chair, all the while her walker stashed behind her seat.

In many ways, my new friends remind me of my Dad. I see his varying stages of Alzheimer's displayed among the group. I take my cues from them, but also from what made my Dad smile and feel comfortable. So I'm sure to physically touch everyone – holding their hands, moving their arms, massaging their calves, assisting their legs with kicking movements, dancing as we hold hands. I look everyone in the eyes and smile. I use as many names as I can remember; am trying to learn two new names each week. So far there is Virginia (two Virginias, actually), Barbara, Muriel, Mrs B, Mary, Thomas and Richard. 

We wind down to calming nature sounds, and I offer a gentle back massage to anyone who wants one. Last week I couldn't help but finish each massage with a kiss on the keppela (that's Yiddish for head).

I always ask first before touching anyone, and will check with Brittaney, an amazing young woman who is the recreation leader on the weekends, if I am unsure about someone's disposition or physical status. She remains with us during the session, and has given me helpful guidance about song choice (after the first week she suggested more Elvis, more Sinatra, and more sing alongs; of course, I complied!)

In January I had to skip a weekend in order to attend a long planned for teaching conference. Enjoyed the conference but found myself missing my new friends. This volunteering thing turns out to be a highly selfish endeavor. 

Making a living teaching yoga, maybe not, but taking in a second income from teaching yoga, according to this graphic, quite possible.