Flexible and Accessible

A Chair Yoga Class Offers the Exercise to All Abilities

Mtn Living Mag October 2009

October-2009-coverThe participants arrive at Thorpe Community and Senior Center, ready for action. Bins of equipment stand ready to offer each person maximum benefit in a yoga workout. Good wishes and grins greet Iyengar Hatha Yoga Instructor Melinda DeBoer-Ayrey as her students spread out around the room. “You have enough space there?” they ask one another and joke as they set up.

Armed with water bottles and towels, the Chair-Yoga-10.08group has the gusto to pull off a challenging exercise routine in any setting. Except this isn’t just any setting. And this isn’t any group of yoga enthusiasts. This is Melinda’s Stretch & Laugh Chair Yoga class. Three of the five members that day manage with some degree of wheelchair assistance. None has any hesitation to participate. It’s an attitude that propels them through their tough days. Continue reading “Flexible and Accessible”