NASHUA The ladies of St. Christopher Parish have something to energize them Wednesday mornings: Yoga for Seniors with instructor Elizabeth Cote.

For everyone it's a chance to stretch, to get together, Cote said after a session in the church basement. There's always a little chat before and after class. It brings internal focus and kind of quiets the outside world.

Cote, who works full time as a consultant, teaches yoga on a volunteer basis. She also teaches at the Merrimack YMCA at 6 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Yoga began to take off in the Western world in the 1960s. It takes many forms, from heat yoga to medicinal yoga to yoga for seniors.

All the women who attend sessions in the church basement are members of the church and attend yoga after morning Mass. Though the class is open to men, the one male participant quit because he was the only guy.

Annette Godwin came because she was having trouble sleeping and was experiencing a lot of stress.

I was 20 pounds heavier and my blood pressure was 195 over 80, Godwin said. After doing yoga, she said, her blood pressure declined and she began to sleep normally again.

She had also been having trouble with her knee and was facing surgery.

I had chronic pain, 24/7. That type of stress plus the daily stress. Losing the weight, and the blood pressure, made all the difference, she said.

Since they weren't doing strenuous exercise, Godwin thought the results were miraculous.

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Post-Mass yoga provides time for reflection