Denise Sautters CantonRep.com staff writer

Ida Mae Graves of Canton, 94, is on the move.

It isn't always easy for the woman who uses a walker to get around, but Mark Jones is making it easier for her.

"My mother raised us to keep moving," she said. "I don't know why, but I keep doing it, and it is working for me. I feel good."

Her method of movement nowadays is chair yoga, a practice of modified yoga poses with participants seated in a chair instead of on a mat.

"This practice is about balance," said Mark Jones of Canton, who specializes in both mat and chair practices. "It is good for people with specific conditions such as multiple sclerosis, vertigo really, it is for everybody, but primarily for those who have a lack or mobility, balance or ability to stand for any length of time. Like mat yoga, chair yoga provides participants with core strength, good stretch, improved muscle tone, better breathing habits, stress relief and a sense of well-being."

Angela Caster, 70, and Jean Flitcraft, 82, both of Canton, can attest to the benefits of chair yoga.

"I can bend over without falling," said Flitcraft. "I was getting to be a couch potato before I started taking chair yoga. But, now, my balance is so much better, and my body feels so much better now and I have only been doing this not even a year yet."

Caster said she is much more relaxed now, and her knees no longer hurt like they did before.

"I've taken the class for the past four years and I feel so much better than I did before," she said, noting that because of the benefits she's able to work part time at the Meyers Lake YMCA, where she takes her classes.

Flitcraft also takes classes at the Meyers Lake Y, taught by Krysten Neal of Canton. Graves follows Jones at The Regency, where she is a resident.

"We've taught chair yoga here for the past 4 years," said Neal, explaining the program was certified by Silver Sneakers, a fitness program for those 65 and older that is available through numerous insurance companies. "This is a modified yoga program, seated and standing, for older adults who are basically either fit or sedentary that have had some rehabilitation and want to start back into exercise. It is also good for their mental and emotional state, if they are having trouble sleeping or with stress and anxiety."

Neal, 52, is a fan of mat yoga for herself, but really is not a student of the discipline. Most of her yoga education has been through the Silver Sneakers program.

"I've done it on my own here and there but never have been a real student of yoga," she said. "I do like mat yoga, but I do this to help my students breathe better and get their balance."

Jones' parents got him to the mat.

"When I was 42, I began the practice of yoga immediately upon seeing my then-77-year-old mother who had been practicing yoga for more than 30 years swoop easily into a full forward bend to pick up a kitten. I remember committing at that moment to whatever it would take to earn such gracefulness at 77. That was 14 years ago. Today, I have a whole new respect for the practice."

He received his 500-hour level of Brahmrishi Yoga Teacher Training Certification in 2016 and is registered with Yoga Alliance, a nonprofit organization that promotes and supports the teaching of yoga.

He teaches yoga full time now, at numerous locations, including The Regency, Mercy Medical Center and The Danbury.

"The brain runs the show, " he said. "Every movement comes from the brain, so we are using the body to access and quiet the brain. Basically, yoga maintains the body."

Reach Denise at 330-580-8321 or denise.sautters@cantonrep.com. On Twitter:@dsauttersREP

See the original post:
Chair yoga helps Stark County seniors increase mobility, stability - Massillon Independent