05/11/2023
This weekend, I began a series of introductory Chair Yoga workshops with the Women's Active Retirement Group at Straide Community.
The theme for the workshops was 'joy of movement' and we began by travelling backwards in meditation to our childhoods, and recalling movements we engaged in for play or pleasure, to evoke that sense of freedom and curiosity into our bodies again.
We also meditated on the incredible amount of 'movement' that continues within when when we still in what we perceive to be 'stillness' ...the breath, the heartbeat, and all the different systems that keep us in homeostasis.
We used chairs in our asana (physical) practice to foster accessibility and inclusivity, but also to play with the chair as an interesting prop, with endless possibilities.
We explored functional movement too, and the ways in which we want to be able to continue moving our bodies so we can lead independent and fulfilling lives as we age.
Here are some snippets of what we covered in the movement parts- sped up x 7 hence squeaky mouth! 😁
We've only just got started, so I'm excited to see where the remaining weeks lead us, and the tea, scones and chats afterwards were an added bonus 😀
Thanks to Age & Opportunity for providing funding to deliver these workshops via the Age & Opportunity National Grant Scheme for Sport and Physical Activity - supported locally by Mayo Sports Partnership
Thanks to Straide Women's Group for inviting me to guide them in these sessions, they are a mnáwsome group of women 🙌
