Not So Senior Yoga

Learning from Retirees

This week I taught yoga at a senior retirement home. Many of my students are in wheelchairs and/or use a walker. For the most part we do what is known these days as “Chair Yoga” where we modify basic yoga poses to be done in a sitting position. I attended a few of these classes before I taught it in order to better understand the needs of the students, and although the idea may seem tame, it certainly isn’t. I walked away each time sore in parts of my body that I didn’t know I had. Besides sore muscles, there were three main take-aways from my experience at the Sunrise Nursing Home this week.
First, these seniors are not so senior. At the end of the class, one of the regular students said that she enjoyed my class very much, but that I had forgotten to do the left side of an arm exercise. Obviously, we do both sides, but it seems that I, at age 38, had a “senior” moment. She is 92. It proved the point to me that we can be forgetful at any age. My Dad often worries if he is losing his memory and I consistently reassure him that I too often lose track of things. The yogini in her 9th decade reassured me of this today.
Next, I felt so loved by so many of these students. Many of them were eager to talk, tell me about their bodies, and find out more about where I was from. I learned that one of them grew up just 20 miles from where I did and we traded stories about life back in the Big Apple. His Long Island accent was like a big hug reminding me of home and his charm put the icing on the cake. This yogi is 80 and I wished half the people I met had his wit.
Lastly, I realize that old people are just like new people. We all have unique characteristics to our personalities and we also all like to be touched. Some of the smirks, as well as the compliments, were the same that I get from the students in my class when I teach a Parent-and-Me to 0-4 year olds. In this class, like most of my others, I also like to give neck or feet massages during the last ten minutes of class. Even students who were hesitant about the class or who were perhaps shy, loved getting their shoulders rubbed and knots worked out in the muscles of their neck.
As mentioned, they call this a retirement center, but I don’t think of my students this week as weak, retiring or lounging into the last stage of their life. These people are bright, full of emotion, and ready to receive new affection, even if they are sitting in chairs.