Yoga as Therapy for Optimal Aging

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Cape Cod Center for Well-Being, LLC - Vital Heart Yoga Teacher Training

1046 Main St suite 8

Barnstable, MA

Program Instances

Hybrid

Dates: TBD

100 hours • TBD

Barnstable, MA, US

Led by

Kate McHugh

CYT-L3

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Purpose

Theoretical frameworks (both yoga and health care) as well as current approaches and research findings about healthy aging will be presented. The workshop includes lectures, yoga practices, meditations, group processes, demonstrations, & (*for yoga teachers/ therapists) ~ practice teaching opportunities during the practicum. During the practicum, participants have the additional opportunity to engage in nutritional planning, a yoga therapy assessment, ayurvedic lifestyle practices, and other therapeutic interventions.

What to expect

During the practicum, participants have the additional opportunity to engage in nutritional planning, a yoga therapy assessment, ayurvedic lifestyle practices, and other therapeutic interventions.

Style/Lineage

This 30-hour on-line continuing education course is for everybody ~ (yoga students, yoga teachers, yoga therapists and healthy aging enthusiasts), This optimal aging workshop provides individual and group strategies and skills to help participants understand, practice, design, and self-implement yoga therapy sessions that enhance aging.

Core competencies

By the end of this program, graduates will be able to…

Yoga History & Theory	Describe the theoretical framework of yoga as therapy, including the physical, energetic, mental, and emotional benefits most relevant to aging populations. Describe how the yamas, niyamas, asana, pranayama, (etc.) serve as accessible entry points for therapeutic yoga interventions with older adults. Learn how to apply key sutra concepts (including citta vritti nirodhah, abhyasa, and vairagya) to therapeutic framing and client engagement. Learn and analyze how dosha imbalances contribute to physical decline, psychological imbalances, and emotional dysregulation in older adults. Evaluate a client's chakra profile using the Kosha and Chakra assessment models to identify priority areas for therapeutic interventions.
Anatomy, Physiology, Biomechanics	Identify key structures and functions of the aging brain including the prefrontal cortex, neuroplasticity mechanisms, and stress-response pathways. Describe trauma-sensitive yoga principles including invitational language, choice-making, body autonomy, and titrated exposure for aging populations.
Practice Skills	Demonstrate safe, accessible versions of therapeutic postures with modifications for chair, floor, and standing formats appropriate for aging populations. Identify core pranayama techniques used in healthy aging programs including abdominal breathing, three-part breath, Ujjayi, coherent breathing, and sama vritti breathing. Design a progressive meditation module for a healthy aging group program, with clear session objectives, technique rationale, and guided language. Describe the method, therapeutic purpose, duration guidelines, and physical and energetic benefits of key mudras and bandhas for aging populations.
Teaching Skills	Evaluate a client's kosha profile to identify root causes of presenting challenges and prioritize areas for therapeutic yoga interventions. Describe the principles of group cohesion, holding space, deep listening, and authentic communication within a therapeutic yoga setting with older adults. Design themed healthy aging yoga class sequences for diverse contexts including chair yoga, mat practice, and mixed-ability groups with documented rationale. Analyze and evaluate how expressive interventions may complement somatic yoga practices in addressing cognitive, emotional, and relational dimensions of aging. Identify complementary and integrative assessment tools used in healthy aging practice including the Kosha model, Chakra model, memory questionnaires, and Ayurvedic constitution assessments. Design an individualized yoga therapy plan for an aging client based on comprehensive multi-model assessment, with documented goals, practices, and progression criteria.
Lifestyle & Ethics	Apply yamas and niyamas to real-world teaching scenarios involving boundaries, self-care, consent, and scope of practice in a therapeutic yoga setting with older adults. Describe the ethical principles governing therapeutic yoga relationships including confidentiality, informed consent, professional boundaries, and liability.
Business Skills	Create a professional development plan and business roadmap for a yoga-as-therapy healthy aging program that reflects ethical, equitable, and sustainable values.

AYC allows each school to state and evaluate the competencies each student acquires. Students rate how well the program delivered them.

Program Emphasis

Evaluation methods

Program evaluations

Oral Exam
Written Submission
Direct Observation
Graded Skill Demonstration
Solo Project Or Presentation

Students will be evaluated through a combination of oral and written submissions

Program Faculty

Featured Faculty

Kate McHugh

Kate started teaching in the eighties and has been studying the practices of yoga for decades. She is a certified E-RYT 500 and C-IAYT through Yoga Alliance and the International Association of Yoga Therapists, a health coach and a mental health clinician of about 40 years.

capecodcenterforwellbeing.com

Barnstable, MA, US

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