Training & Preparation for Teaching Seniors

Ah, aspiring yoga instructors with your dreams of enlightening seniors—welcome! Before you dive into teaching elders, know this: a quick weekend certification on yoga might not cut it. Your training lineage and style influence your teaching approach like a pebble determines the ripple in a pond. If your background is in power yoga taught in a sauna, perhaps prepare for a steep learning curve when guiding gentle grandmothers. If your yoga roots are entwined with Iyengar or Kripalu, you’re in luck—these styles naturally lend themselves to accommodating senior bodies. Understand senior-specific techniques, and if you’ve got some gray hairs of your own, even better for relating to your students’ unique challenges. If not, ensure proficiency in breath-centered practices with personal adaptations before claiming senior expertise.

General Training Isn’t Enough

Let’s lay down some reality: a January 2017 study reveals an uptick in yoga injuries, especially among those 65 and older. This isn’t just because these bodies bruise easier; it’s a wakeup call that general teacher training doesn’t adequately arm instructors to safely guide elder yogis. Instructors, if you’re fumbling through teaching about hip replacements or osteoporosis as you would a spry 20-year-old, perhaps pause before you harm. Build your foundation on senior-specific health considerations; adapt your lesson plans like your career depends on it—because it does.

Fundamental Consideration: Injuries & Conditions

Stepping into a class without assessing your students’ health can be a gamble of epic proportions. Personal history of injuries or chronic conditions screams for a therapeutic yoga background. For nagging class issues, tiptoe to your magical resources on Safety & Adaptations. Forging connections with mentors—or as I amusingly call them, those who have ‘been there, bent that’—will be invaluable. Even spectating a veteran instructor gracefully manage their class can enrich your perspectives far more than a dozen how-to books.

Communication & Perceived Safety

Beyond bending and twisting, yoga teaching is an art of communication. How do you convince potential students of your capabilities without hyperbole? Listening is critical; inquire about their health and reply with compassion. Explain so thoroughly that modifications during class become second nature, thus empowering their practice and earning their trust. Think of building confidence as your unspoken contract with every senior stepping onto the mat.

Recommendations for Beginners

Before you decide you’re the next guru of senior yoga, revisit your basics on teaching beginners. The-almost-self-evident guidelines here are: no long holds, repetition, slow pace, especially during warm-ups. Beginners need clarity, so be precise in your guidance and demonstrations. Teach them the breath as if it’s the most important lesson—because it probably is. Instill focus, alignment, and cultivate an atmosphere that draws them back, rather than sending them in search of another studio.

Teaching Tools

Wielding an arsenal beyond the sun salutation is your imperative when teaching seniors. Enter Chair Yoga: a strategy so straightforward, yet so seldom mastered. Chairs are allies for those whose mobility is as stable as a house of cards. Until you’re adept at Chair Yoga, stick to the basics, including props that might one day save you and your students from a far-too-excited revolved triangle pose.

Additional Resources

For those keen on honing skills even further, embrace a world of supplementary resources. Seek out lessons on safe asanas, understand when to usher a student towards medical advice, and grasp the tenets of sage practice. Works by B.K.S. Iyengar and Stephanie Pappas aren’t relics but gems to guide your journey.

Reading About The Fourth Age

What’s this? The Fourth Age—a term by Dr. Stephen F. Barnes referring to life’s grand finale, ages 80 plus. Meet icons like 88-year-old Norma Bursack, whose practice exemplifies the physical and emotional depths of teaching seniors. They navigate life’s final stage with grace most of us could only hope to emulate.

For more guidebooks on teaching seniors, mosey over to Teaching Seniors Resource—for the adaptable ashtanga practitioner who takes teaching (and their students’ well-being) seriously.