Community Corner
Local Yoga Teacher Goes East to Learn Evidence-Based Yoga Therapy
Duke University Center for Living Yoga Therapy student returns to Los Altos to share Yoga with seniors living with chronic conditions.
Safely teaching yoga to the rapidly growing and underserved senior population is Cheryl Acheson’s new passion.
In early November, the local yoga teacher successfully completed training at Duke University’s Center for Living in Durham, North Carolina.
This medical facility integrates conventional and complementary medicine that includes nutrition and behavioral health consults, MBSR (mindfulness based stress reduction), physical therapy, massage, acupuncture, therapeutic massage and yoga.
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Board certified physicians offered advice, precautions and recommendations for teaching this age group. Cheryl states, “Learning how to safely teach seniors with cardiovascular disorders, arthritis, hip replacement, osteoporosis, chronic pain and dementia allows me to be a more skillful and inclusive teacher.”
According to the UNC Institute on Aging, seniors 65+ are projected to more than double between now and 2050, to 80 million.* 10,000 people turn 65 years of age every day in the US and by 2050 2 out of 5 65 years old are likely to reach the ago of 90.
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About Yoga Therapy for Seniors
Therapeutic Yoga includes gentle physical movement (poses) as well as breath work, visualization, social interaction, meditation and relaxation.
A 2014 study at University of Illinois found gentle “yoga has an immediate quieting effect on the sympathetic nervous system and on the body’s response to stress ... Since we know that stress and anxiety can affect cognitive performance, the 8 week yoga intervention may have boosted participants performance by reducing their stress.” **
About cheryllynnyoga
Cheryl currently teaches seniors at Yoga of Los Altos, Palo Alto Hills Country Club, Rosewood Hotel Sand Hill as well as private students up and down the peninsula. With over 10 years experience and 600 + classes under her belt, Cheryl is confident that she can safely teach yoga to practically everyone.
Teaching yoga to seniors is immensely rewarding. My eldest student is 92 years young. And, thanks to the training course at Duke, I have many more “tools” in my yoga toolbox.
*UNC Institute on Aging www.aging.unc.edu
**http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25024234
Cheryl Acheson