Day One
INTRODUCTION
Hello! I am a registered nurse who has been teaching 1:1 yoga lessons since early 2019 as a RYT-200 instructor. Currently I am taking the course work to become a 500 hour yoga instructor, and creating this workshop is part of the course program. I would really appreciate your input as we go along, so please feel free to speak up at any time with comments or concerns!
The unexpected happens! Even when we are careful, sometimes we slip or we trip, we can fall. This can be devastating as we get older, not only in terms of injury but loss of independence. However, there are exercises we can do to help minimize our risk for falls and the potential for injury if we do fall, as well as make it easier to get up safely. Your ability to get up and down off the floor has been shown to be an indicator of mortality risk in a study of people who were 51-80 years old. (1) This program aims to improve the odds in your favor.
The workshop will be broken down into four primary physical elements; focused breathing, improving balance, stretching and strengthening. Other elements such as mindfulness and intention will come up along the way as well. All these combined can help you avoid falls, improve the outcome of a fall, and give you more tools to recover from a fall should one occur. These can be incorporated into a daily exercise routine to help you move better and feel better overall.
EXCERCISES DAY ONE
FOCUS ON THE BREATH -
Let's start by focusing on the breathing. Place one hand over your chest and one on your belly, and just observe how the breath moves us here. Feel free to close your eyes, and just focus on the breath.
Begin to work on evening it out and making it deeper, but only as long as this feels good to you. Return to normal breathing any time you begin to feel short of breath or light-headed. It does take some practice. Nice deep inhale, nice deep exhale. You can count to yourself to see how long each takes, and try to make the inhale and the exhale the same length. If that feels okay, try to deepen the breath for another count or two, and continue on like this.
When we stumble or fall, our bodies go into "fight or flight" mode. The nervous system kicks up the heart rate and respiratory rate increases too. If we were about to be attacked by a coyote, this would be great! But after a fall, we are seeking calm, homeostasis. We can begin to regain control of the situation by regaining control of the breath - taking nice deep breaths, even on the inhale and exhale. This allows us to slow down, remain calm, and act to correct the situation rather than react to it.
Deep, focused, even breathing also helps us to manage the perception of discomfort and pain. We can use breathing techniques to reduce pain not just by breathing evenly and deeply, but for some people adding guided imagery with the breath can help even more.
Take a few more controlled breaths like this, then let your breathing return to its natural rhythm.
Moving with the breath...
LET'S STRETCH –
(Seated on the chair)
➺ Head and neck
➺ Spinal stretches and twists
➺ Knee into chest w/ankle rolls
(Supported by the chair)
➺ High lunge, Twist, Warrior 2, Reverse Warrior
FIND YOUR BALANCE –
(Using the chair if needed)
➺ Tree Pose
➺ Knee lifts with ankle rolls
TIME TO STRENGTHEN –
(Hands on the chair)
➺ Upper body : Modified plank, Mini push up, Downward facing dog
(Seated on the chair)
➺ Core : Chair pose, Leg lifts with the breath, Knee lift w/ twist
COOL DOWN -
(Seated on the chair edge)
➺ Modified fish pose, Cat/cows
(Seated fully on the chair)
➺ Sit upright for deep, even breaths, closing your eyes for a moment as we end class
CLOSING -
Think about what we've worked on here. Imagine how you would put it to use in real life, if you tripped or fell. Or consider how you could use this information to help someone else in this situation. Then let those thoughts go and find ease for a moment, simply centering on your breathing. Now open your eyes, take your arms out and up, let's share an awakening breath. Let your palms touch and come down through center towards the heart. And that's it! Thank you.
NAMASTE!
tHANK YOU!!