We’ve had a great weekend at the Yorkshire Yoga Centre, a British Wheel of Yoga Approved Regional Centre in Knaresborough, undertaking Gentle Years Yoga training with Laura Bissell and Jenny Howsam.
We have been through lots of seated versions of Yoga postures, supported standing postures and looked at the use of props and equipment to allow yoga to be accessible to all. Some of the props we used included scarves, resistance bands, bean bags, balls and broom handle.
It was really nice to sit in on a real Gentle Years Yoga class and to speak to the students afterwards and hear what brought them to yoga and why they keep up their practice. Interestingly many of the students had experienced age related falls and an associated loss of confidence. Gentle Years Yoga had really helped to increase their strength, improve their balance and build back their confidence. The programme aims to improve the activities of daily living in those with various health conditions. This is achieved by a mix of gentle cardio activities, resistance band strength work and yoga flexibility postures adapted to a chair.
Inspiring creativy
We are really enthused about the Gentle Years Yoga training programme and its excellent blend of mobilisation, seated yoga, heart rate raising activity, dexterity exercises and not forgetting fun! The training has really encouraged us to be creative and has opened a whole new area to explore when writing our class plans. The use of lots of new and different props provides endless possibilities.
We will be looking to start out Gentle Years Yoga classes very soon, stay tuned for more information and announcements! If you are interested in the classes or interested on behalf of a family member please do not hesitate to get in touch at yogasmithsorg@gmail.comÂ
Namaste
Paul & Steve
Link to the British Wheel of Yoga website: https://www.bwy.org.uk/
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