10-17-21, 07:42 PM | ||
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Join Date: Jan 2002
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I know, doesn't it?
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RE falls, Baxter said that there hasn't yet been a study as to whether falls are decreased among yoga practitioners; I'd love to know! I agree that being able to "catch yourself" in a fall is a key skill. ETA: I forgot that Baxter also gave 3 things that are the main risk factors for falls: 1) muscle weakness, 2) being on 4+ prescription medications, and 3) poor balance. I was found to have osteopenia in my right hip this past April, but since I don't have any of those other risk factors, I'm not too worried about it.
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10-17-21, 08:08 PM | |
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I'll probably wind up sharing my thoughts about this training kind of piecemeal. I have access to recordings from the program for a few weeks; I'd like to go back and review some of the material if I get a chance.
The Yoga for Healthy Aging book focuses on these main aspects of healthy aging: strength, flexibility, balance, and agility. During the first weekend, we learned about all of these topics and did focused practices for each area. This weekend, we learned additionally about cardio health, immune support, and stress management, and we did practices in this additional areas as well. On both weekends, we also did some work on yoga philosophy and how it might relate to aging. We discussed ways equanimity can have a positive impact on aging, including accepting what comes, dropping the resistance, having a willingness not to manipulate outcomes, and keeping an open mind; we also talked about how having equanimity can help us to deal with the inevitable losses that occur with aging. One of Baxter's tips for a strength practice was something he called "Slow Motion Outer Space," or slowing things down, just like the principle of a concentric/eccentric contraction. He also recommended an isometric contraction when holding the pose. For balance, his recommendations included doing poses/practices that are new to you (especially with adding props), adding in more variety, and having a non-judgmental/mindful attitude. For flexibility, he recommended dynamic movements and flows as well as stretching in different fascia plans (e.g., moving arms/legs apart from each other). For heart health, Baxter recommended including challenging standing poses, bearing weight on the arms, practicing dynamic flows, and doing both inverted (including partial) and restorative poses. We talked separately about brain health, but Baxter repeatedly emphasized that anything you do for your body is good for your brain! Here is a final thing for today that really spoke to me. Baxter said that for healthy aging, Western medicine recommends the following: 1) managing chronic stress, 2) getting enough/good sleep, 3) engaging in learning, 4) staying connected with community, and 5) exercising. He emphasized that yoga provides ALL of these benefits plus adds 2 more skills, meditation and equanimity.
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02-04-24, 06:12 PM | |
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Reviving this thread to report on another workshop!
It was an experiential anatomy workshop called Align - Entwine - Redefine. https://www.facebook.com/events/9693.../?ref=newsfeed It was taught by Michael Amy, an Iyengar instructor, certified yoga therapist, and physical therapist with expertise in adaptive yoga, anatomy, and more: https://www.michaelamyyogapt.com/ I've taken 2 prior workshops/classes with Michael. The first was Sept 2019, a "yoga on the ropes" class in which we did all kinds of fun acro-ish things on ropes hanging off the studio wall. More recently (April 2023), I went to an adaptive yoga fundraiser class that was basic but really enjoyable. I've decided I'm a fan girl of Michael. By voice, he sounds a lot like Paul Grilley, and in teaching style, he is like a cross between Rodney Yee and James Knight! He has that precision of an Iyengar teacher with some movement patterns that are very similar to James's work. To start the class, Michael spent about 20-30 minutes reviewing anatomy, and then the rest of the class was practice. There were a few quotes he shared at the beginning that I liked "focus on the shape of the experience, not the shape of the pose" and "your posture is your story." The brief anatomy review focused on the front and back body spirals and the position of the organs in the body. For the practice part, Michael basically led us through interesting twists on on familiar movements and poses, with the goal of feeling the spirals in the body and opening both the front and the back line. The first thing he had us do was lie on our backs with just one tennis ball under the sacrum for several minutes; this was so we could feel the sacrum moving into the body. Throughout the class, he frequently reminded us to think about the line running from the center of the back of our skull down to the sacrum (and he also repeatedly reminded us to "relax the jaw"!). Here are a few of the movement patterns we did. I'll try to explain as best I can!
There was also a very methodical hand to big toe series. We did standing stuff too, as simple as lifting the inner arches in mountain pose and also using a chair for versions of revolved triangle and shoulder stand. At the end, Michael asked us to jot down suggestions for future workshop topics, and I made him a list. I would love to practice with him again. Also, the yoga studio where he teaches is beautiful. I'd only been inside once before, for a workshop many years ago (with a different instructor), although it shares a yard with the zen center, which I've been to, and I attended an outdoor yoga/photography workshop in the garden during covid, which was very cool - the gardens there are so peaceful. This is the studio (although there aren't many photos of the space): https://openskyyoga.com/ The photos here show some of the shared outdoor space with the Zen Center (plus a number of dogs, LOL): https://www.google.com/search?q=roch...NsWElEa1pWeElp ETA: Coming back on 2/5/24 to add a few more things that I remembered. These were done without the mat and are a bit harder to describe, but I'll try my best!
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02-04-24, 10:26 PM | |
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It was fun! And yes he teaches locally at that same studio. It's in the city of Rochester and only about 15 minutes away from where I am in the suburbs, but it's kind of hard to find parking there - I'd probably go there more often if that wasn't the case! But I'd still love to do another workshop with Michael in the future.
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02-05-24, 11:14 AM | ||
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Sherry, it's a really peaceful location. I did an all-day intro to Zen workshop which was really nice (although we were indoors some of the time).
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I remembered a few additional things we did; when I get a chance, I will go back and edit.
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eccentric weight training, yoga, yoga teacher training, yoga workshop reporter, yoga workshops |
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