NOTE: Registration is no longer required for this class. All participants have been sent the Zoom link.
This is a great way to exercise and calm your nerves while sheltering in place - the Village is offering Chair Yoga and Meditation classes LIVE on your computer.
About the Instructor
Chris Morton, a Village member and highly respected yoga and meditation teacher in Newburyport, will host chair yoga and meditation classes twice a week using Zoom. Chris will send registrants a link to her virtual class and information such as the best type of chair to use.
What is Chair Yoga?
Chair yoga is a gentle form of yoga, modified to accommodate people of varying abilities. Each class is one hour long and includes breath work, meditation, concentration exercises, and simple poses that increase flexibility and strength.
Class Schedule
Starting April 7, classes are offered Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:00am - 11:00am:
- Tuesday, April 7 & Thursday, April 9
- Tuesday, April 14 & Thursday, April 16
- Tuesday, April 21 & Thursday, April 23
- Tuesday, April 28 & Thursday, April 30
Namaste!
The Greater Newburyport Village
Note: Chris also offers Yoga on the Mat classes on Zoom for those who enjoy a standing yoga flow. If you are interested, please contact Chris directly at cmortonyoga@comcast.net
A Message from Chris Morton
THE BENEFITS OF YOGA AS WE AGE
Yoga’s benefits can be experienced at any time in our lives and how we practice yoga poses is constantly shifting and changing as we age. For twenty-five years, I has been practicing and teaching yoga. I have an understanding of the accommodations that are needed to support our movements as we age.
Considering the physical body, I know for certain that practicing yoga poses can build strength slowly and safely. What was once experienced in a moderate to rigorous yoga class can be modified through different pacing, variations, and the use of chairs and props. As we age there may be increased stiffness, aches and pains and imbalances and yoga can help us navigate our way to greater comfort.
I remember hearing someone say that we are only as old as our spines are inflexible and I now understand the truth of that statement! For example, over the decades of life, the pull of gravity can cause us to hunch over as the spine shortens and rounds. Certain yoga poses encourage us to lean back up into the strength of our back body and to twist and stretch the sides of the body in ways that create a flexible spine. Yoga increases spinal flexibility and overall strength in the physical body. It also increases safe strengthening of the body through weight bearing poses. Physical balance is enhanced by yoga poses that involve both the body and the brain, specifically bringing about a balancing to the left and right hemispheres on our brain. This helps us retain our agility at a time when we are more concerned about the possibility of falling.
There is also an awareness of the inherent wisdom of our body that can develop when practicing yoga; a mindfulness that informs us when we are not in balance. Yoga allows us to connect inwardly, intuit what needs to happen and change our course when needed. Now in this challenging time when we are all learning a new way of being here, yoga can provide a formula to release stress and access our clear thinking. Overall, attending a chair yoga class can not only release stress but also lower blood pressure, improve sleep and even aid in digestion. How wonderful that we are never to old to start!