Unity Woods Promotes Active Aging With Yoga

 

        Unity Woods Yoga Center is a regional yoga center providing quality yoga

 

instruction to local residents. It is part of a larger social movement that has challenged   

 

the “disease” model of Western allopathic medicine and advocated for a “wellness “

 

model. Along with other “integrative,” (Birkel, 1998, p. 23), mind-body, or wellness

 

therapies such as Tai Chi, Authentic Movement, Chi Gong,  expressive dance, Alexander

 

Technique, Feldenkrais movement, acupuncture, acupressure and massage, yoga helps

 

older adults enhance their quality of life by improving posture, balance, strength, and

 

flexibility, reducing stress,  relieving pain, and quieting the mind. Yoga encourages older

 

adults to take an active role in their own well-being, and ultimately, to face death with

 

grace and equanimity.

 

 

Historical Background and Theoretical Underpinnings

 

            For thousands of years, yoga has helped individuals improve their health. Yoga is

 

a philosophical system and practical training that promotes physical, mental, and spiritual

 

awareness, with social benefits accruing to the family and society at  large. Active aging,

 

as defined by the World Health Organization is “the process of optimizing opportunities

 

for health, participation and security in order to enhance quality of life as people age.”

 

(Hooyman, Kiyak, 2008, p. 7) Active aging is not the goal of yoga, The goal of yoga is to

 

quiet the mind and achieve a state called samadhi or self-realization, but optimizing

 

health one of the is one of many benefits of a regular yoga practice.

 

            Individuals of all ages who care about their health and peace of mind are drawn to

 

the practice of yoga. Because yoga poses are done slowly, don’t put harmful pressure on

 

the joints, focus on physical alignment and steadying the movement of the breath, yoga

 

can be started at any age and is well suited to an older population.

 

            Modern gerontological theories help us “develop interpretive frameworks or

 

lenses, based on our experiences, by which we attempt to explain the aging process.”

 

(Hooyman, Kiyak, 2008). Role theory, disengagement theory, and gerotranscendence

 

theory are three modern theories that share common ground with yoga philosophy

 

regarding the life stages of an individual.

 

            Role theory states that “individuals play a variety of social roles across the life

 

course,” and form “the basis of self-concept and identity,” (Hooyman, Kiyak, 2008,

 

p. 307).  As far back as “the middle of the first millenium BCE,” (Feurstein, 1996, pp.

 

18) Indian authorities encouraged a system of four successive life stages that would

 

minimize social disruption --  “the student, the householder, the forest dweller (in late

 

 maturity), and the freely wandering ascetic (in old age.)” (Fuerstein, 1996, pp.18-19).

 

According to this ancient Indian social model, older persons (men, for the most part)

 

were freed from familial and other social obligations to pursue a life of yogic

 

contemplation.

 

This accords with disengagement theory, which views “old age as a separate

 

period of life, not as an extension of middle age,” (Hooyman, Kiyak, 2008,  p. 310) and

 

 gerotranscendance theory, in which there is “a shift away from activity, materialism,

 

and preoccuptation with the physical body,” and a “connection with the cosmic world

 

 expressed as wisdom, spirituality and one’s ‘inner world’.” (Hooyman, Kiyak, 2008,

 

p. 311)

 

In ancient India, yoga techniques and philosophy were passed down from the

 

teacher (guru) to the disciple (sisya) on a one-to one basis in the home of the guru. In

 

modern times, this has changed. Most Western yoga classes are public. Students pay a set

 

fee to attend classes, and classes can hold up to 50 students.  Living yoga master B.K.S.

 

Iyengar who is largely responsible for popularizing Hatha yoga in the West and training a

 

large number of U.S. teachers, has held classes with 600 or more students.

 

B.K.S. Iyengar was schooled by his guru,  Shri T. Krishnamacharya, of Mysore,

 

India, in the 8-limbed (ashta-anga) system of Classical Yoga  as expounded by Patanjali

 

(second century A.D.), author of the Yoga Sutras.  Patanjali is credited with  synthesizing

 

extant yoga philosophy into 196 short aphorisms or sutras, and with expounding the

 

eight practices that encompass classical yoga. These include: moral observance (yama),

 

self-discipline (niyama), posture (asana), breath control (pranayama), sense withdrawl

 

(pratyahara), concentration (dharana), meditation (dhyana) and self-realization

 

(samadhi).

 

Although posture (asana) and breath control (pranayama) constitute only two

 

limbs of Patanjali’s eight-fold yoga system, they are the main focus of yoga classes

 

taught in the United States. In his book The Tree of Yoga, B.K.S. Iyengar states, “The

 

original idea of yoga is freedom and beatitude, and the by-products which come by the

 

way, including physical health, are secondary for the practitioner.” (Iyengar, 1989, p.

 

106).

 

Mr. Iyengar published is first book, Light on Yoga in 1966.  This book gave

 

detailed instruction on how to practice yoga postures and persuaded many Westerners to

 

take up the practice of yoga.  It also includes a now classic introduction to yoga

 

philosophy.

 

Unity Woods Yoga Center director John Schumacher was born in 1945, at

 

the beginning of the baby boom. Schumacher was a young adult in the 1960’s, as yoga

 

was becoming more popular in the U.S. He read and taught himself from, Light On

 

 Yoga, studied at retreats, classes or events with Swami Satchidananda,

 

Vishnudevananda, and Joel Kramer.  He began teaching to the public and opened

 

Unity Woods Yoga Center in 1979. He became a student of B.K.S. Iyengar in 1981.  

 

Twenty-seven years later, Unity Woods Yoga Center holds classes in

 

four locations in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan community with headquarters in

 

Bethesda, Maryland. Its mission is to, “improve health, foster serenity and expand aware

 

ness.” (Schumacher, 2007,  p. 1).   Its purpose, is “to offer yoga to

 

as extensive an audience as possible by providing uncompromising quality yoga

 

instruction. All classes teach the Iyengar method, based on the teachings of B.K.S

 

Iyengar. This rigorous approach emphasizes a balance between strength and flexibility,

 

builds endurance and develops Self-awareness through precision in movement and

 

attention to the subtleties of  body, breath, mind and spirit.” (Schumacher, 2007 p.1).

 

 

Services Provided

 

Unity Woods offers yoga classes in posture (asana) and breath control

 

 (pranayama). Students must study yoga postures for a full year before they can

 

study breath control. This is in accord with the dictates of B.K.S. Iyengar who instructs

 

 that the body and mind must be cultivated first with the discipline of  yogic postures,

 

because pranayama demands more skill and attention and works with the more subtle

 

 energy of the nervous system.

 

 

 

 

 

Unity Woods is a for-profit yoga center that offers weekly classes to 1800

 

students. Class sessions are taught on a quarterly basis, with classes running

 

approximately 47 weeks per year.  Out of 1800 students, 220, or slightly over 1/9th of the

 

student body, are over the age of 65. Unity Woods classes are not age segregated. There

 

are students over 65 in all levels of general classes. There is one class weekly at the

 

Bethesda location called “Seniors.” In addition, there are three classes weekly

 

called “Gentle” and one class weekly called “Back Care”  that draw a more senior

 

population.

 

Students pay for the yoga classes, class fees are $18/class for a one and a half

 

hour class and $16/class for an hour-long class. Students pay on a quarterly basis and

 

quarterly sessions vary from 9 weeks in the summer to 11 or 12 weeks in fall, winter and

 

spring. A ten per cent discount is offered to students 65 and older.  There are scholarships

 

and work-exchanges available for those who can’t afford the tuition, and students may

 

pay the tuition in installments.

 

No student has ever been turned away due to lack of tuition.  The number of

 

scholarships vary by semester depending on demand.

 

In addition to weekly classes, Unity Woods offers special workshops with

 

teachers from around the world, as well as workshops on special topics taught by local

 

teachers, some of which appeal to seniors, such as, “Yoga From A Chair,”

 

“Restorative Yoga,” and “Yoga For Depression.”

 

Director John Schumacher, also offers free discussion groups to students and

 

their family members. “Yoga and Aging” was a recent theme of one of those

 

discussions.

 

 

Service Providers

 

Teachers who teach at Unity Woods undergo rigorous training in the Iyengar

 

method. Teachers in training are expected to maintain a minimum daily yoga practice of

 

one hour or more in duration in addition to their teaching load, and apprentice with a

 

senior Iyengar-certified teacher for many years. Before applying for the certification test,

 

these candidates must teach public classes for a minimum of three years.

 

The three-day certification test and credential are given by senior-level teachers

 

who sit on a the certifying committee of  the national Iyengar Association. (IYNAUS).

 

This test includes knowledge of asana, yoga philosophy, and therapeutic applications,

 

and has a written component as well as a requirement to teach students in front of the

 

committee.  Many of these candidates have been to India to study with Mr. Iyengar who,

 

while formally retired at age 89 is still practicing yoga vigorously on a daily basis, and

 

assists his daughter, Gita Iyenger and son, Prashant Iyengar informally as they teach

 

public and medical classes at the Ramamani Iyengar Institute in Pune, India.

 

Teachers at Unity Woods come from varied backgrounds and include or

 

have included a licensed physical therapist, and nurse. Other teachers have

 

completed graduate work and undergraduate work in exercise physiology, anatomy,

 

kinesiology, health education, occupational therapy, cardiac rehabilitation, special

 

education, applied linguistics, social work,  philosophy, psychology and Laban

 

Movement Analysis.

 

            Unity Woods currently has 19 teachers. The director, John Schumacher, is in his

 

early sixties. Other teachers range in age from late 50s to late 20’s with the majority in

 

their 40s and 50s.

 

Although Unity Woods itself does not have faculty 65 and older, its guiding light,

 

Mr. Iyengar, is 89 years old, and a role model for active aging. He and his method have

 

always drawn students of all ages and several of first western pupils, such as the Italian

 

yoga teacher and author Vanda Scaravelli, who studied with Iyengar in the 1940’s  and

 

1950’s taught up until her late eighties.

 

Since yoga puts a great emphasis on awareness, is an experiential practice and

 

is not primarily learned through the study of texts, its practitioners bring increased

 

experience to their teaching as they age. It is rare for a yoga teacher to retire, though a

 

few do. This may also be partly due to Indian cultural norms which honor elders. India        

 

has a history of Indian gurus teaching throughout the duration of their life.

 

 

How Services are Organized to Meet the Needs of Older Adults

 

Classes at Unity Woods are offered during the day and on the weekends. Each of

 

the main studios is accessible by elevator and is wheelchair accessible, or accessible to

 

those who have impairments and or walking difficulties. In addition all locations are

 

situated near a Metro stop so students can use public transportation. Public parking is

 

available within one or two blocks of the studio.

 

The main studio is in Bethesda, located on the 16th floor of an office and

 

residential high-rise. Some older students have mentioned discomfort or fear of being on  

 

the top floor of a tall building, and are concerned about the difficulty parking in a public

 

lot. More outreach could be done to reassure potential older students that the classes are

 

welcoming, and parking is surmountable.  

 

One of the unstated benefits to older students of coming to a yoga class is

 

becoming part of a caring community. As Hooyman and Kiyak state, “with children

 

typically gone from the home and without daily contacts with co-workers, older people

 

may loose a critical context for social integration.” (Hooyman, Kiyak, 2008 p. 333).

 

Because yoga is an open-ended learning laboratory whose subject is vast and

 

never mastered, students tend to study over many years. This can lead to a sense of

 

community with other students in the class and ease feelings of loneliness.  In addition,

 

the relationship between teacher and student is a foundational aspect of the learning

 

process. Traditionally, the teacher or guru is one who brings the student out of darkness

 

and towards the light. Though this is less true today, with large public classes, than it was

 

in ancient times, for many students, the bond with the teacher can provide support,

 

direction, and meaning. In a good teacher-–student relationship, trust and mutual care

 

develop and a yoga teacher may provide hope and good role modeling. Teachers coach

 

their students with their voice, tell jokes and stories, demonstrate poses and correct

 

students with the use of touch. Touch can be a form of appropriate intimacy, “defined as

 

the freedom to respond to and express human closeness—love , attachment, and

 

friendship…vital to an older person’s well-being.” (Hooyman, Kiyak, 2008, p. 293).

 

Some teachers organize social functions, i.e. trips to museums, a shared meal after

 

class, parties, informal classes.  Unity Woods annually sponsors a softball game, picnic,

 

and end-of-year holiday party for students and their friends and families. These extra-

 

curricular social events help break down isolation and give students a sense of belonging

 

to a “family” not based on biology, work identity or shared living quarters.

 

 

Survey of Unity Woods Students

 

In preparing this paper I sent out a questionnaire to students at Unity Woods. Of

 

the 39 responses I received,  the breakdown in age was as follows:

 

 

Age

60-64-   4 students

65-69- 18 students

70-74-   7 students

75-79-   4 students

80-84-   6 students

85-89-   0 students

90+-      0 students

 

Years of Study

age 60-64: the minimum years of study was 2, maximum 12 years.

ags 65-69: the minimum years of study was 1 and 1/2 , maximum 13 years.

age 70-74: the minumum years of study was 9 months, maximum 14 years.

age 75-79: the minimum years of study was 5 years the maximum 20 years.

age 80-84: the minimum years of study was 2 years the maximum 10 years.

 

Improvement Attributed to Yoga

I asked students if they’d improved in any of the following areas and how they measured their improvement. Most said their measurement was subjective, they judged by how they felt. Self-reported improvement was as follows:

 

In the following areas have you:                  Improved      (39 responses total)

Balance                                                                30

Posture                                                                 27

Strengthening                                                       27

Flexibility                                                             27

Musculo-skeletal                                                  26

Stress reduction/relaxation                                   24

Joint problems                                                      20

Arthritis                                                                13

Osteoporosis                                                          8

Insomnia                                                                6

Heart condition                                                      4

Chronic Fatigue                                                     3

Lung condition                                                      2

MS                                                                         2

Others: Pain management                                      1

 

 

Interpretation of Data

 

This in no way represents a longitudinal study. Since there was no testing prior to

 

beginning yoga, the data showing areas of improvement only reveal subjective

 

experience. Students who respond to a survey would likely be students whom yoga has

 

helped, and it’s possible that other activities besides or in addition to yoga contributed to

 

these improvements.  Nonetheless, the areas where students do report improvement

 

strongly suggest improved quality of life. “Active aging is consistent with the growing

 

emphasis on autonomy and choice with aging, regardless of physical and mental decline,

 

and benefits both the individual and society. … a growing number of studies support the

 

importance of active aging for physical, psychological, and social well-being in the later

 

years. (Hooyman, Kiyak, 2008, p. 7) This also supports changes I have observed in my

 

own students in the course of teaching at Unity Woods over 16 years.

 

 

 

How These Services Help Seniors

 

 

The Iyengar method of hatha yoga places a very high emphasis on the physical

 

alignment of the skeleton and muscles in yoga postures.  Musculo-skeletal aches and

 

pains brought me and many students to their first Unity Woods yoga class.  Pain relief

 

and other improvements mentioned above keep them returning .

 

According to Evjenth and Hamburg, “Today one in patient in four seeking

 

medical aid does so solely with a locomotor system complaint. Many of the remaining

 

three quarters of all patients seeking medical aid primarily for other reasons also

 

complain of stiffness, aches, and painful movement.” (Evjenth and Hamburg, 1996, p 4).

 

In addition to physical alignment, a regular yoga practice builds strength,

 

increases flexibility and circulation, and decreases stress through attention to the body

 

and breath.

 

Standing poses strengthen the feet and legs, and can help with balance. “Some

 

components, such as balance, muscle strength in the lower legs and thighs and flexibility

 

have been associated with the prevention of falls.” (Birkel, 1998, p.23). Inverted poses

 

reverse the pull of gravity on the organs, and “increase circulation of blood and nutrients

 

to the brain.” (Alleger 2002). Twisting poses, bring massaging action or  “soaking and

 

squeezing action” on the organs. Backbending poses stimulate the adrenal

 

glands. Forward bends pacify the brain. Working with the breath aids focus and fosters

 

relaxation. Many of my own students have reported diminishment of pain symptoms and

 

leaving class with a sense of accomplishment and lifted spirits.

 

 

Active Aging

 

Yoga cannot change chronological age but it does enhance functional aging. Yoga

 

philosophy does not deny the inevitable death of the physical body (although some of its

 

practitioners continue to send out an anti-aging message.) Yoga when practiced regularly,

 

maximizes function in the various systems of the body:  cardiovascular, pulmonary

 

hormonal/endocrine, digestive, excretory, as well as the ones already mentioned,

 

musculo-skeletal, joints of the body, and nervous system.  Yoga philosophy teaches that

 

the body is temporary but the self is eternal, therefore one should cultivate non-

 

attachment to the physical body. This philosophy helps individuals loosen their

 

identification with the physical body as it ages naturally and declines. This is one of

 

yoga’s great and often understated gifts to the older population, and anyone suffering

 

from pain or chronic debilitating illness. If the death of the body is seen as inevitable, and

 

the body is seen as a temporary home or temple for the self which is eternal,  then one is

 

less apt to deny aging and death, and better equipped to see them as natural processes, not

 

tragic ones.

 

 

Looking To the Future

 

            Older citizens are the fastest growing percentage of the population. (Hooyman,

 

Kiyak, 2008, p. 5).  For maximum benefit to this population, many more teachers (as well

 

as nurses,  doctors, and other care providers) need to be trained to meet the growing

 

need. According to Atul Gawande, “Despite a rapidly growing elderly population, the

 

number of certified geriatricians fell by a third between 1998 and 2004” and “incomes in

 

geriatrics and adult primary care are among the lowest in medicine.” (Gawande, 2007, p.

 

52). Doctors and nurses could be trained to utilize the complementary services of yoga

 

instructors and other mind-body practitioners. Ideally, yoga would be available in

 

hospitals, community-, recreation-, and senior- care centers. A massive public education

 

campaign would help make its benefits known to all. Yoga needs to be further

 

evaluated by the medical and scientific establishment.

 

Ideally, The United States would look more like China, whose older population

 

regularly practices Tai-chi in public. Federal, state and local jurisdictions could support

 

yoga classes and related health services to its older citizens. With a single-payer health

 

system, yoga could be reimbursed and available to all. In the short term, yoga classes

 

could be reimbursed via Medicaid and Medicare.

 

These are political and policy issues, and Unity Woods, and studios like Unity

 

Woods  are not primarily concerned with policy and advocacy. Nonetheless, by doing

 

what they do best, teaching yoga (in the case of Unity Woods) they have helped shape

 

society for the better, by creating an environment that encourages active aging.

 

Not so long ago, yoga was seen as something weird, fringe, and for the select few.

 

It is now accepted as a viable tool for maintaining health and vitality throughout the

 

lifespan, and is seen as a complement and/or alternative to standard medical intervention.

 

Scientists doing research on brain function are verifying centuries-old yogic findings on  

 

the nature of consciousness. 

 

In his introduction to Light on Yoga Mr. Iyengar writes, “The yogi’s life is not

 

measured by the number of his days but by the number of his breaths.” (Iyengar,

 

1966, p. 43). In a rapidly changing world characterized by such instabilities as

 

global warming, geo-political upheavals, and human suffering on a world-wide scale,

 

Iyengar yoga classes at Unity Woods teach older students how to stretch and strengthen

 

 their bodies;  how to take a slow, steady breath to calm the minds;  how to live ethically,

 

non-violently, and in harmony with others; and how stay focused in the present to better

 

face life, aging, and death with courage and dignity.

 

 

 

C , 2007, Joanne “Rocky” Delaplaine

www.RockyDelaplaine.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography

 

Alleger, I. (2002) The Anti-Aging Exercise. Review of Yoga For The Young At Heart by Susan Winter Ward. Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients. Academic OneFile.

 

Birkel, D. (Nov-Dec 1998) Activities for the older adult: integration of the body and mind. JOPERD—The Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance. 69, 9. p.23.

Academic OneFile.

 

Crandell, S.  Living Longer: Exercise (2007-2008) Annual Editions Aging Mc Graw Hill, Dubuque, IA. Academic OneFile.

 

Evjenth, O. Hamberg, J., (2003) Muscle Stretching in Manual Therapy: A Clinical Manual Vol II: The Spinal Column and TM Joint (6th ed.) Alfta Rehad, Srlag, Sweden.

 

Feurstein, G., (1990). Encyclopedic Dictionary of Yoga. Paragon House, NY.

 

Feurstein, G., (1996). The Shamhbala Guide To Yoga. Boston, MA.

 

Francina, Suza  (1997) The New Yoga For People Over 50: A Comprehensive Guide for Midlife and Older Beginners. Health communications, Inc. Deerfield Beach, FL

 

Gawande, A. (2007) The Way We Age Now, The New Yorker, Annals of Medicine, April 30, 2007

 

Hooyman, N., Kiyak, H.A.,  (2008) Social Gerontology, A Multidisciplinary Perspective. (8TH ed.). Allyn and Bacon, Boston, MA.

 

Iyengar, B.K.S. (1979) Light On Yoga, Schocken Books, NY

 

Iyengar, B.K.S. (1989) The Tree of Yoga, Shambala, Boston, MA

 

Lorenzi, E. (1999) Complementary/Alternative Therapies: So Many Choices. Geriatric Nursing Vol 20, Issue 3. Academic OneFile.

 

Prabhavananda, S., Isherwood, C. (1981) How to Know God: The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali, Vedanta Press, Hollywood, CA.

 

Rosen, Richard (text) & Robert Holmes (photos (2004). Yoga for 50+: Modified Poses & Techniques for a Safe Practice. Library JournalAcademic OneFile.

 

Schumacher, John, (2007) Unity Woods Yoga Center Newsletter, Fall, 2007 ed.

 

 

C , 2007, Joanne “Rocky” Delaplaine

www.RockyDelaplaine.com