Brethren Village

Title: Brethren Village Yoga Classes
Time: 7 min 27 sec

Description:

For more information about yoga classes at BV contact the Wellness Department at.

Transcript:

hello everyone my name is Vicki Darden I am the yoga instructor here at Brethren village a little bit about me I specialize in teaching classes to seniors both chair classes and mat classes I've been teaching since 2014 however I have been practicing yoga most of my life I'm also teaching all throughout Lancaster County in Berks County as well I am a health coach so I work with people in other aspects of their health care and well-being so we brought yoga here to Brethren village and currently at this facility we have both chair yoga classes and mat yoga classes yoga if you're unfamiliar with it is a systematic program for peaceful healthy living with sharpened awareness when they started yoga I wasn't even considering it but my wife she started saw the demonstration and I said well what the heck well part of my history is I've got very bad ankles so I figure you know I can't do any of that but chair yoga was a big surprise I have terrible terrible balance best got bad a ankles well it has improved a little bit any improvements is in a improvement and I think it my stamina I think it might have increased a little bit but it's a lot of fun we do a lot of laughing and Vicki she is fantastic as we age the number one concern is Falls Yoga can help with fall prevention improve balance and mobility increase your strength and flexibility improve your mental clarity reduce pain and stress and a whole lot more my name is Jim Hathaway and this is my wife Arlene we both attend the chair yoga class here at brother village and it had some very interesting was that as well as how it's helped us alright you know relate a little bit about what you found out yes I my very first experience with yoga is with chair yoga at breath indulge and years ago I was diagnosed with osteoporosis my greatest fear is falling I have to admit even though I am very active here at brethern village I find that attending the classes at chair yoga and it's given me more flexibility especially the stretching exercises that we can do I can honestly say that my experience material new hair breath and village has been a most enjoyable and beneficial for me as we age movement is extremely important I tell all of my residents that we when we rest we rust the classes here are designed to meet the specific needs of the students in each class and unlike many other forms of exercise yoga requires focused attention and exercises are performed with the breath I have to do DS and Bharathy so I try to keep moving by doing laps in the pool for exercise and air aerobics just recently added the yoga class the chairs to further allow me to have exercise and check the breathing problems each class has specific components so every class will include strength exercises balance exercises things for flexibility Yoga for the brain and we also do functional exercises that help you in your daily living classes always end with the time of relaxation I was lucky to be able to get in the very first class that cherry over here with Vicki and I'd say it's been a very very interesting experience for me I had due to some health issues and so forth an old age probably I had had a balanced problem and I had also a flexibility problem I think what chair yoga has been able to do is to give me beyond that to where I can now begin to do other activities that Harley and I used to do together and that's ballroom dancing and even other type of dancing we've really enjoyed that and I think the chair yoga has given me the flexibility and the balance that was necessary for me to have a good time with it we both enjoy Cheerios very much so very much so and maybe you're thinking well I have limited flexibility and limited range of motion you will find these classes to be very helpful because all of those things will increase as you take the class about a year and a half ago I had surgery on my right shoulder for a torn rotator cuff after the surgery 12 weeks with my arm in a sling and numerous sessions of physical therapy my shoulder was still tight I was experiencing some difficulty as far as reaching and I had significant pain in my shoulder my husband kept saying you need to go back because something is wrong his surgery along the same line was much more successful than mine earlier this year our wellness department introduced a class called chair yoga we decided to sign up and we've been participating in the class ever since the instructor started introducing some shoulder stretches this is good for the rotator cuff so I incorporated those stretches into my own daily routine now this takes discipline but it's well worth it and I'm so pleased to say that it has loosened up my shoulder I have significant improvement in my reaching and my stretching and I'm not experiencing the pain that I did so I'm a believer in chair yoga and for our wellness department I want to say thank you very much for the opportunity here at Brethren some of the residents are sharing a variety of wonderful results including less pain lower blood pressure improved strength and flexibility improved sleep better breathing stress reduction and being able to dance the night away we offer mat classes as well as chair classes both have their own unique challenges the mat class is more like a traditional yoga class and is the most challenging chair Yoga is a class that allows participants to perform all exercises seated or standing with a chair for support if you're looking for a fun way to stay fit these classes may be just what you're looking for so enjoy but get out and get moving