Get your gear, let’s do yoga for easing back pain!
Here’s my little preview video announcing about the Gentle Yoga for Low Back Care class that I teach for the Veterans Yoga Project. Thursdays at 11 AM CST. Free for Veterans, Active Military, Friends and Family.
Gear you’ll need?
A tie, or sash from a robe, or long scarf — or yoga strap
A couch pillow, or two rolled up hand towels — or a yoga block
A non slip surface — or yoga mat
A long towel or throw blanket to cover up with for comfort
45 Minute beginner yoga class to ease back pain, lessen stress, increase flexibility, gain strength, build bones, better balance, lower blood pressure and more!
During the pandemic, I’ve had to move my classes over to Zoom Video conferencing platform, YouTube and Facebook Live. I hope to see you in class on Thursday at 11 AM.
Tuesday schedule for Veterans Yoga Project Online Streaming Classes Facebook Page - I teach at 5 PM Central. Gail Pickens-Barger
A variety of classes for Veterans, their families, and our communities to partake and enjoy!
Tuesday schedule for Veterans Yoga Project Online Streaming Classes Facebook Page – I teach at 5 PM Central. Gail Pickens-Barger
I have volunteered these past couple of years to do Veteran’s Day Yoga classes to help support the Veterans Yoga Project. I first heard about the VYP on Baxter Bell’s Yoga for Healthy Aging website several years ago. One of the co-authors of that blog Nina Zolotow mentioned that day about this project, and how yoga teachers across the country were doing special classes for Veterans and donating to this non-profit.
Part of my outreach to the community is to teach various themed classes that benefit various non-profits. In the past we’ve done food drives for the United Boards of Missions, T-shirt collections for making t-shirt diapers for Haiti, and a Yoga for Food drive for filling up local food pantries. Teaching classes, collecting money for this effort really resonated with me, and my church was fully supporting doing this.
So every year since then I’ve taught classes during Veterans Gratitude Week, and more recently did a fundraiser class for an In Memory – Light a Candle – during Memorial Day. Part of the funds help Veterans attend retreats, and provide scholarships toward becoming a yoga teacher themselves.
Last year, I got a call to come up to the local VA and do some chair yoga classes for them. I figured then it was about time to get trained in the protocol of the Veterans Yoga Project.
I love the 5 tools of mindful resistance, and find myself regularly incorporating the principles in that methodology in my regular chair yoga and beginners yoga classes.
The Breath
Mindful Movement
Guided Rest
Meditation
Gratitude Practice
Now that COVID-19 is upon us, all the classes throughout the nation for Veterans and their families have to take on a different view.
The leadership in the Veterans Yoga Project, asked all of us MRT – Mindful Resistance Trained Yoga teachers to step up and volunteer their time to provide daily content for offering Online Streaming Classes on either Facebook or Online Zoom platforms.
I volunteered to teach Adaptive Yoga, done seated on the chair, with strengthening and balance work done behind the chair (or seated). Go check out Veterans Yoga Project Online Streaming Classes facebook page,for their extensive offerings of yoga classes for the Veterans, families and our communities (I think that covers about everyone).
I’m teaching today at 5 PM Central, Adaptive Flow, so pop on over about that time to see the class! Here’s the schedule for today.
Gentle Yoga for Low Back Care Free Routine – See a sample of my work.
Streaming Live Online Yoga Classes for Veterans – Here’s one of my live streamed gentle yoga for low back care classes from my Veterans Yoga Project Online Streaming classes. Enjoy
This routine is over on my youtube channel and up on the Live Streaming Video section of Veterans Yoga Project Online Streaming Facebook Page. Go like and get notifications of that page, to get new video notifications.
Bounce the piriformis to create circulation and then stretch - how? - With Yoga. Yoga with Gail. Gentle Yoga for low back care.
How to warm up and stretch the piriformis – It’s Yoga
Here’s a little yoga nugget from our Gentle Yoga for Low Back Care class. Sequence to warm up and create circulation in the piriformis muscle, then to S-T-R-E-T-C-H (stretch) that muscle out!
Some primary goals in doing yoga is to:
Reduce pain and inflammation
Increase circulation
Increase range of motion
Release chronic contraction
Increase strength of muscles around joints
Identify dysfunctional movement patterns and create functional movement patterns.
Enjoy this little sequence!
clinced Pigeon Pose – Warm up, Circulate, and Stretch the piriformis muscle. – It’s Yoga!
I have this chair yoga fitness class on Thursdays at 10:00 AM. A unique class in that I teach this for the National MS Society. Part yoga, part cardio fitness. Since some folks come in with canes, walkers, maybe a walk that does not promote cardio fitness, I throw in some seated cardio fitness.
A good 20 minutes or so with our heart rates elevated. We get in a good part of breathing, yoga, cardio fitness, balance, and meditation. It has become quiet popular with folks.
