Yoga & Meditation for All
Yoga and Disability | Yoga and Chronic Illness
No matter how devoted you are to your yoga practice, there will be times when illness, injury, travel, and other curveballs of life will interfere, and you may feel unable to practice.
Not only that, but for folks who live with disabilities and chronic illness, or even those in non-normative bodies, the yoga practice as it is often taught in the Westernized world, isn't even for us.
Accessible yoga is all about adapting the practice to your life in a way that you can stay connected to it and reap its benefits even when things get rough, no matter how you feel.
One of the first things to suffer and be forgotten first when life gets stressful or we go through changes are often the self-care practices we need most, like yoga.
What is Accessible Yoga?
Although often confused as gentle yoga, yoga for seniors, and chair yoga, the truth is, those are yoga styles that incorporate accessible yoga principles.
Accessible yoga isn’t a style of yoga per se, but a way to view the practice that allows the teachers and practitioners to start from where they are, and explore the yoga practice in a way that fits their individual needs.
Any yoga class, practitioner, and practice that chooses to acknowledge the person first, and that makes room for a wide range of people to be able to participate, is an accessible yoga class.
Accessible yoga invites us to look at the practice from a holistic perspective.
It’s about letting go of the idea that the poses are what matters most, and creating space in yoga and wellness studios for traditionally marginalized communities and individuals to explore the benefits of yoga.
Who is Accessible Yoga For?
Even now, the population that attends yoga classes, workshops, retreats, and events – as well as the majority of teachers – is fairly homogenous. This is a direct reflection of the lack of access and inclusivity in the yoga industry.
Accessible yoga is not just chair yoga, or yoga for disabled folks, it's for everyone since it’s an approach to any style of yoga that adapts to you instead of having to mold yourself to the practice.
The adaptive and inclusive methodology of accessible yoga is especially good for:
-
People with disabilities
-
People with chronic illness
-
People with chronic pain
-
Those in non-normative bodies
-
Folks with PTSD and trauma-related experiences
-
People new to yoga
-
Aging adults
-
Those with temporary or permanent injuries
-
Folks who want to adapt the practice to their needs
Teaching Accessible and Inclusive Yoga
Accessible Yoga Teacher Training Online
This 5-hour Yoga Alliance-approved online yoga training is specifically designed for yoga teachers who are ready to bring accessibility and inclusivity into their offerings and into the spaces in which they teach.
It’s packed full of resources to enable you to adapt and make your classes, sequences, language, cues, and teaching spaces accessible for those with different abilities, needs, ages and backgrounds.
In order to bring yoga to more people, to better understand and serve our students, and empower them to explore beyond the physical postures, we must dive into concepts of accessibility, inclusivity, and trauma.
This yoga training online is specifically designed for yoga teachers who are ready to bring accessibility and inclusivity into their offerings and into the spaces in which they teach.
This course is packed with resources and practical tools on how to ensure your offerings are inclusive and accessible. You’ll learn how to adapt the physical practice of yoga to those with various disabilities. These include examples of seated, prone, and supine sequences, how to adapt Sun Salutations, how to incorporate adaptive and accessible components within a ‘regular’ Hatha or Vinyasa flow, plus a practice with an adaptive student.
You’ll learn how to ensure your cueing and language is inclusive, and how to make your workshops and retreats and the spaces in which you teach more accessible. You’ll understand how to adopt a holistic approach that empowers, supports, and inspires practitioners to explore and adapt the practice of yoga to their own unique needs, intentions, and lifestyle.
Learn practical ways to make yoga accessible
In this 5-hour online yoga teacher training, I will share with you how to adapt and make your yoga and meditation classes, sequences, language, and teaching spaces accessible and welcoming for those with different abilities, needs, ages, and backgrounds.
You’ll learn how to adapt the physical practice of yoga to those with various disabilities. These include examples of seated, prone, and supine sequences, how to adapt Sun Salutations, how to incorporate adaptive and accessible components within a ‘regular’ Hatha or Vinyasa flow, plus a practice with an adaptive student.
Are Your Yoga Classes Accessible for Everyone?
Webinar and Q&A
This is an introductory and free online yoga workshop for yoga teachers who would like to learn how to teach yoga classes that are accessible for a wider range of people - especially those who may have been previously excluded from the practice, due to their size, age, ethnicity, income, gender, ability or any other discriminating factor.
We’ll explore what accessibility means in yoga and meditation spaces and why it’s so important that we join this conversation.
We’ll look at the various reasons we might have to adapt our yoga classes.
We’ll consider what it means to offer a ‘safe space’, and you’ll learn some practical ways to make your classes more accessible - including variations and adaptations, use of language and cueing, the use of props and how to build a sequence.
Afterwards, there’ll be a Q&A session, so bring your curiosity and questions! Laia is a warm and engaging teacher so even if you're unsure whether this topic is applicable to you, we think you’ll come away having learned something new.
Support, Empower & Inspire
As a yoga teacher or studio owner you may wonder why a wider range of people don’t come to your classes, despite labelling all your classes ‘for all’ or adding a teacher of colour to the schedule.
As you explore the tools I share in this yoga training online, you'll learn to facilitate a holistic approach that empowers, supports, and inspires your students to explore and adapt the practice of yoga to their own unique needs, intentions, and lifestyles.
