Session 1 (FREE PREVIEW)

Friday January 24th, 2025
11am-12pm PT | 2pm-3pm ET  (1 Hour)

Working with Our Aging Bodies: Anamaya Kosha

with Jivana Heyman

In this opening session, Jivana will offer an overview of Accessible Yoga for Older Adults and consider the pancamaya kosha model that yoga uses to understand the layers of our human embodiment. In particular, he’ll reflect on the ways the anamaya kosha (physical body) changes as we age. This includes a discussion of:

• Major health issues affecting older adults, and the ways that age impacts our bodies
• How these common health challenges intersect with yoga practice
• The potential benefits of yoga for older adults
• Safety concerns and contraindications of practicing asana for older adults

He’ll also share a short practice focusing on building strength and improving balance for older adults.

Session 2

Wednesday January 29th, 2025

11am-1pm PT | 2pm-4pm ET  (2 Hours)

Expanding Energy & Breath as We Age: Pranamaya Kosha

with Jivana Heyman

In this session, Jivana will continue with an exploration of adapting asana for older adults since it’s a vast and complex topic, and consider the ways that asana practice supports strength and increased stamina. He’ll also explore subtle yoga practices that focus on increasing prana (energy) as we age. This includes pranayama, breathing practices, and how we can find appropriate practices for ourselves and our students. This session will include an asana and pranayama practice focused on expanding prana.

Session 3

Friday January 31st, 2025

11am-1pm PT | 2pm-4pm ET  (2 Hours)

Our Aging Minds: Manomaya Kosha

with Jivana Heyman

We usually think of yoga as a physical practice, but that’s just one small part. According to traditional teachings, yoga is ultimately about the mind. As we age, working with our own mind can become easier or more challenging depending on our life circumstances and a host of other issues. In this session, Jivana will explore how we can support older adults with the inward, more subtle yoga practices such as meditation. After all, meditation is the heart of yoga practice, but it can be challenging to turn inward when you’re experiencing trauma, stress, grief, or memory loss, which is common for so many of us. This session will include an asana practice designed to prepare us for meditation.

Session 4

Wednesday February 5th, 2025

11am-1pm PT | 2pm-4pm ET  (2 Hours)

Creating an Appropriate Practice for Older Adults: Vijnanaya Kosha

with Jivana Heyman

In this session, Jivana will explore yoga practices that connect us to the wisdom body, vijnanamaya kosha. This is our intuition, or higher mind, which we may have greater access to as we age. As we know, age offers wisdom, but sometimes we need to work at it. We can become more sensitive to subtle changes in our bodies and minds as our interoceptive ability expands. This greater inner knowing may make the task of creating a personal yoga practice easier as we become more devoted to finding a practice that supports our health, longevity, and most of all, peace of mind. A deeper connection to our inner wisdom is essential as we face the stress of illness, disability, grief, and loss that unavoidably come with age. This session will include an asana practice designed to help us connect to our inner wisdom.

Session 5

Friday February 7th, 2025

11am-1pm PT | 2pm-4pm ET  (2 Hours)

Dementia, Mental Health & Grief: A Decolonized Perspective

with Ekta Hattangady

In this interactive workshop, you’ll reflect on your understanding of dementia and the unconscious biases you hold.

Ekta will bring forth perspectives from their experience working with people with dementia, and from Buddhism, that allow for a more expansive view of the human life span and its accompanying malaise.

This workshop will include reflection, journaling, discussion, and a slideshow presentation.

Session 6

Wednesday February 12th, 2025

11am-1pm PT | 2pm-4pm ET  (2 Hours)

Yoga & Healthcare: Supporting Older Adults

with Eve Adler

Explore the knowledge and tools you need to work with older adults in healthcare settings. We’ll review current research about changes that can occur in the body and mind with age, and explore the importance of exercise, both physical and mental, in the aging process.

We’ll also consider questions that older adults should ask their doctor before starting a yoga practice, safety guidelines when practicing asana, how to practice chair and bed yoga in healthcare settings, and the importance of resting between poses. We’ll also discuss the essential topic of how to best support caregivers of older adults. The workshop will end with a short yoga practice.

Session 7

Friday February 14th, 2025

11am-1pm PT | 2pm-4pm ET  (2 Hours)

Building Strong Foundations for Easeful Aging

with Carol Krucoff

Yoga offers numerous tools for aging well with practices that can build strength, boost balance, enhance strength, and increase flexibility. Yet some commonly taught yoga postures may pose significant risks for older adults. This workshop will offer essential information about health conditions common to seniors—including heart disease, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, and arthritis—and present evidence-informed movement considerations to help reduce risk and enhance effectiveness for people in midlife and beyond. We’ll explore practices that are accessible for active seniors and can help them remain independent by reducing fall risk, improving and/or maintaining bone and joint health, and enhancing physical function. These practices can also help those in their 40s, 50s, 60s, and beyond prepare for aging well.

Session 8

Wednesday February 19th, 2025

11am-1pm PT | 2pm-4pm ET  (2 Hours)

Empowering Older Adults with Reduced Mobility Through Asana Practice

with Jess Geevarghese

The Silver Tsunami, a wave of older adults who started turning 65 in 2011, has hit the United States. While it’s easy to think of “older adults” as a monolith, there’s tremendous variation in their ability, mobility, and needs. The session will address the diverse needs of older adults in a yoga practice, which is crucial for fostering inclusivity and ensuring safety. Specifically, we’ll discuss the differences in needs of active older adults and those with decreased mobility in a yoga practice. We’ll discuss the different types of aged care facilities (in the U.S.), and dive into the considerations necessary for working with this less mobile population. We’ll also consider how to best work with mixed-level classes in these spaces, and the business aspects related to serving this population. Interspersed with the lecture will be two 20-minute practices for this population.

Session 9

Friday February 21st, 2025

11am-1pm PT | 2pm-4pm ET  (2 Hours)

Eternal Awakening: Anandamaya Kosha

with Jivana Heyman

This session will be divided into two parts, including a reflection on the anandamaya kosha, the bliss body, as well as a course summary.

First Jivana will discuss how yoga connects us to an eternal place of peace and joy, as well as offering us acceptance of illness and our eventual death.

Then he’ll review the presentations from all of our guest faculty and offer a summary of the entire course.

PRE-RECORDED PRACTICE

An Ayurvedic Menopause

with Kallie Schut

In Āyurvedā, yoga’s sister science, it is taught that the stages of life are closely aligned with a doṣa (constitution) and the associated panca maha bhuta (great element) which overlay qualities and characteristics from which we can adapt and adjust as we move through the stages of life, including menopause. Through this gentle and easeful vata-pacifying yoga practice incorporating mudra, mantra, and pranayama, Kallie shares the principles of an ayurvedic approach to menopause.

PRE-RECORDED PRACTICE

Chair Yoga for Stability & Focus

with Liz Oppedijk

This practice will invite students to focus on finding balance in body and mind, or to set their own intention. Every part of the practice will offer options so students can choose their own level of flexibility and range of movement. The practice will focus on encouraging good posture, lengthening the spine, and lifting the chest to counteract slouching, in service of allowing the breath to flow more easily, as well as joint-opening movements to encourage comfortable and available ranges of motion. The sequence will refocus on posture and breath between movements, and include a fun element with music / sound to stimulate new neural networks and help retain the ability to multitask.

PRE-RECORDED PRACTICE

Yoga for Arthritis

with Dr. Steffany Moonaz

This gentle chair yoga practice, led by esteemed yoga therapist and researcher, Dr. Steffany Moonaz, is designed specifically to support those with arthritis and chronic pain. This class, accessible to those who are unable to get up from the floor or don't feel comfortable doing so, will focus on mindful movement, breathwork, and relaxation techniques to help alleviate discomfort, enhance flexibility, and promote overall well-being.

PRE-RECORDED PRACTICE

Yoga for Post-Stroke Recovery

with Sunny Barbee

This gentle and therapeutic practice will support students who have experienced a condition resulting in significant weakness, such as a stroke or brain tumor resulting in hemiparesis (partial paralysis). The sequence is mostly seated with brief standing poses using the chair for assistance. Some poses will focus on relieving spasticity (stiffness or rigidity) and others will assist in improving balance.