Seniors age 65 and older represent the fastest-growing sector of the U.S. population and — like many Americans — are increasingly drawn to yoga. Yet there are few places yoga teachers can learn practical strategies for adapting the practice to older bodies, minds and spirits.
Since the senior population is expected to more than double to over 80 million by the year 2050 — with nearly one-quarter expected to live to age 85 and older — it is essential to help yoga instructors learn how to best serve older students.
Earn a Certificate of Completion
Yoga Calm is offering a unique opportunity to earn a certificate of completion in Teaching Yoga to Seniors by bringing the Carson-Krucoff training to the West Coast.
This 20-hour online program is designed specifically for registered yoga teachers. Based on the pioneering program offered at Duke Integrative Medicine, you will learn the key health issues facing older adults and how to safely promote strength, balance, flexibility and pain relief with yoga. It combines the best of modern, evidence-based medicine with the ancient wisdom, experience and tradition of Yogic teachings.
Yoga Therapists Carol Krucoff (Duke Integrative Medicine) and Kimberly Carson (OHSU) will cover health conditions common to seniors, such as heart disease, arthritis and osteoporosis. Then with special sessions recorded live with yoga teachers, physical therapists and occupational therapists, you will learn how to appropriately modify postures for safe and effective work with older adults, with emphasis on individuals new to yoga.
What You Will Learn
- The basic physiology of aging and why some yoga practices may be risky for older adults
- Essential information about health conditions including heart disease, osteoporosis, arthritis, lung disease, and chronic pain
- A skillful method for adapting yoga practices safely and effectively for seniors and others with these limitations
- Tested lesson plans and tips for teaching mixed classes with students of varying ability
- Techniques to enhance and refine your voice as a teacher
Special issues on teaching elderly students will also be addressed, including pain management, fall prevention, and spirituality and aging.
Online Course Modules Also Include
- A balance of lecture, movement, skill-building sessions, and discussion
- Yoga sessions geared to mature bodies, including chair-based practices and appropriately modified postures for those able to get down to and up from the floor
- Learning about common ailments affecting older adults and how to respond to students’ complex medical challenges
- Integrating a conceptual model for skillfully adapting postures and practices.
Accredited
Earn a certificate of completion in Teaching Yoga to Seniors with the acclaimed Carson-Krucoff approach.
This 20-hour program is designed specifically for yoga teachers and qualifies for continuing education credit with Yoga Alliance, International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT), and other professional development organizations.
Inspiration
Meet course instructor Carol Krucoff as she discusses their new book, Relax into Yoga, which was based on this teacher training (1.5 mins)
Publications
Read Kimberly and Carol’s paper “Relax into Yoga for Seniors: An Evidence-Informed Update for Enhancing Yoga Practice Benefits by Reducing Risk in a Uniquely Vulnerable Age Group.“ Published in the open-access medical journal, OBM Geriatrics in their special issue on Yoga in Older Adults.
Details
$295 Course Fee
10% Discount for groups of 3 or more.
Installment billing available. Select “PayPal CREDIT” for 6 months of interest-free financing
Course registrants must have experience teaching yoga, or experience using movement recreationally and/or therapeutically with older adult populations.
Course consists of pre-recorded lectures, readings and review quizzes. You can start or stop at anytime.
REGISTER HERE
Contact us if you have any questions.
Instructors
Kimberly Carson, MPH, C-IAYT, E-RYT, is a health educator and yoga therapist specializing in the use of yoga and meditation for seniors and people with medical challenges. Kimberly has developed and taught yoga programs being researched at Duke University Medical Center and Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). The Mindful Yoga program (in the research literature as “Yoga of Awareness”) developed by Kimberly and her husband Jim has been shown in research trials to significantly reduce pain and fatigue in women with metastatic breast cancer, breast cancer survivors, and women with fibromyalgia. Kimberly is co-author with Carol Krucoff of the DVD Relax into Yoga and the book Relax into Yoga: A Six-week Program for Strength, Balance, Flexibility, and Pain Relief.
Carol Krucoff, C-IAYT, E-RYT, is a yoga therapist at Duke Integrative Medicine in Durham, North Carolina, and an award-winning health journalist. Carol served as founding editor of The Washington Post’s Health Section, and her articles have appeared in numerous national publications, including the New York Times, Reader’s Digest, and Yoga Journal. She is author of several books including Yoga Sparks: 108 Easy Practices for Stress Relief in a Minute or Less, and Healing Yoga for Neck and Shoulder Pain, and is co-author with Kimberly Carson of the book and DVD, Relax into Yoga for Seniors. Carol has practiced yoga for more than 40 years, has studied with master teachers from around the world, and has served as a consultant on several yoga research studies.