REACH FOR THE STARS—Louise Lorente, standing center background, leads a a group of seniors in a yoga class at the Adult Day Care program at Robison Jewish Health Center at Cedar Sinai Park.
Seniors stretch lives’ boundaries with yoga
By Polina Olsen
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She asked the Cedar Sinai Park residents to nestle into their seats before she moved on to breathing and movement.
“Start with knowing what’s underneath you,” she said. “Another wriggle, another snuggle, and we’ll just get going.”
Louise Lorente’s yoga classes at the Robison Jewish Health Center and Adult Day Care have been going for almost three years. Tailor-made for the elderly including those with Alzheimer’s disease, she emphasizes stretching, relaxation and most of all laughter.
“There aren’t opportunities for movement throughout the day,” Robison Home Activity Coordinator Patti Garland told the Jewish Review. “I’m always amazed they do more than I expect, how much movement she gets and how much they try.”
Garland doesn’t tell residents it’s an exercise class. “The real key to getting people to come is telling them it’s laughing-yoga.”
“Let’s start with a really soft laugh,” Lorente prompted the group. “Inhale deeply, and laugh quietly.”
Everyone clapped their hands rhythmically and whispered—“Ha, Ha, Ho Ho, Ho.”
The next try was louder. Finally they came to what Lorente calls bring-the-house-down-laughter. By that time everyone was smiling.
To Lorente, teaching yoga is always new and fresh.
“I get inspiration from the people who are there. This is not a DVD with a script,” she explained.
The former Portland Public School English as a Second Language teacher became seriously involved with yoga while fighting fibromyalgia and chronic pain 10 years ago.
“They gave me every medicine,” she said. “It didn’t help and yoga did.”
“Inhale and one arm up, spread your fingers out,” she continued. “Exhale, fingers come together. Very good.”
“I haven’t done exercise like this for a long time and I’m having pain—should I stop?” asked a new Robison resident.
“That’s a good question. There should be no pain,” Lorente answered. “And, if you can’t move a body part, here’s a trick. Just imagine that it’s moving.”
Yoga for Seniors
The benefits of yoga are anything but imaginary according to OHSU Clinical Psychologist Jim Carson. He and wife Kimberly tested their Yoga of Awareness program at Duke University research trials.
“We demonstrated improvements in mood, fatigue and pain,” Jim Carson said.
“I’ve seen huge benefits with senior citizens and yoga,” said Kimberly Carson who has a master’s in public health and is a registered yoga teacher. She taught in retirement centers for many years. “One woman in her early 80s had osteoarthritis such that her feet were almost completely clubbed. In three weeks of yoga practice she was able to stand up in a steady way without her walker.”
While that was a dramatic example, Kimberly Carson often sees increased flexibility and strength, as well as decreased insomnia.
“General life functioning is improved with yoga,” she said.
“It’s important that it be a gentle approach to yoga if it’s for seniors,” Jim Carson cautioned. “You want to have a teacher that is competent in working with seniors, but you also want to use your own judgment.”
Using a Gentle Approach
At Cedar Sinai Park, Lorente’s gentle approach begins with greeting each resident by name and continues with encouragement:
“… Press into this foot and lift your other foot. Very good, Bertha. Wow!”
“… Mary Betty, you’re laughing and smiling already.”
As is her custom, Lorente stopped the class a few times to tell a joke, warning people that they might moan:
“What did the big chimney say to the little chimney?” she asked. The punch line: “You’re too young to smoke.”
“Exhale and bring your arms into Namaste,” Lorente said. She ends each class with a kundalini yoga farewell blessing:
“May the long time sun
Shine upon you,
All love surround you,
And the pure light within you
Guide your way on.”
“Namaste,” Lorente said as she stood to give each participant their goodbye hug or handshake.
“What does Namaste mean?” someone asked.
“It means, ‘I see the beauty in you,’” Lorente said. “And, I honor you.”
For more information on CSP yoga, contact Louise Lorente, L.Lorente@comcast.net, Patti Garland 503-535-4300, or Nancy Heckler 503-535-4403. For details on Duke University yoga research visit www.yogaofawareness.org and select program research.
