Thanks for your interest in the Online Chair Yoga Training and Certification Program.

(1)

Online Chair Yoga Training with Sherry Zak Morris Yoga Vista Academy

This video will give you information on how the Program works and what you can expect upon completion. I am using similar technology in this Course Overview as you will use in the Online program So you can see the Program design in action you will use in the Online program. So you can see the Program design in action.

(2)

Because we now live in a global community where we can share ideas and

knowledge via technology, I am honored to offer this extensive Chair Yoga Teacher Training & Certification Program.

In this Training Program, I incorporate both Seated and Standing Yoga poses and have created and compiled a large library that will now be yours to take into your teaching.

Many of these Poses and Sequences I have shared over the years through my eNewsletters and YouTube videos – but those are just the tip of the iceberg! If you are not receiving these newsletters, sign up today!

With this training program o ill ha e access to o r entire St dio Video Librar of With this training program, you will have access to our entire Studio Video Library of 60-minute Senior Chair Yoga classes that you can watch, review, study and

(3)

What will you learn from this Program?

First of all, I want to empower you with the knowledge, skills and confidence to teach to Seniors and people with limited mobility. I will share with you

methodologies, research, practical skills and innovative movement strategies that will help you help your students. There will be quizzes and tests to ensure you are absorbing the information and lastly, a final teachback to earn your course

completion and certification.

Your enthusiasm and dedication to your studies in the Program will pay back huge dividends. You will learn teaching and movement methodologies that will help you create interesting, safe and effective Chair Yoga classes. You will learn therapeutic modifications, safe sequencing and lots of Anatomy as it pertains to aging and what q g y p g g our Seniors may be experiencing.

(4)

This area of Yoga Teaching is not for the faint of heart. Don’t let worry and fear stop you from being fully present and available to your students. Just like an animal can sense fear and trepidation, you are not serving your students if you teach from a place of fear and treat them as if they are fragile china.

You will learn to teach with confidence because you will have the knowledge you need! I hope that by the end of this Training Program, you are encouraged that our Seniors CAN improve their health and physical condition with Chair Yoga.

(5)

As we know, this special population has health issues and conditions that can affect how safely they can practice Yoga. We will spend quite a bit of time studying the various parts of the body, what breaks down as we age, and how Yoga can support our physical structure.

If Anatomy wasn’t your thing in school or in your Yoga Teacher or other health-related trainings, then I surely understand. I felt the same way. It is not about

memorization, it is about having an inquisitive mind and a bit of awe for the physical capabilities our bodies allow us to perform.

We will talk about Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis, Joint replacements, bursitis and other age-related conditions so that you will know why a student may be struggling with a particular pose, or how you can offer up an alternative if their condition limits p p y p them.

My intention is not to turn you into a Yoga Therapist or a Physical Therapist, but rather to pique your interest in learning more about how our bodies work so you can serve your students better.

(6)

My goal is to help you become a skilled and creative Chair Yoga Teacher. Offering any type of Yoga Training online begs the question – “How will I know that you have absorbed the material and are confident and competent to teach?”

First of all, you will have “Knowledge Check” quizzes throughout the program that are not graded. They offer you a method of determining how well you are learning the material so that you keep up with concepts as they build on each other. You will have periodic section tests that will be graded. They will make up 40% of your grade.

The final exam will be 15% of your grade and will be a sampling from all the section tests – so no surprise questions! There will be some written assignments,

observations and field trips that make up another 10% of your grade.p p y g

Your final teachback will be a one-hour Chair Yoga Class for Seniors that will count towards 35% of your passing grade. We live in a technology-filled world so

delivering your final teachback can happen in many ways. If you are tech-savvy, you can upload your one-hour class video to YouTube or we can do a Skype

session. You can even burn a DVD of a video of your class that you take with your y y y smart phone and mail it to me. If you are low-tech, then a written script with photos will do!

(7)

The online program will be approximately 50 hours of study, and it is self-paced. Which means you can take a few weeks or a few months to complete it. It is highly suggested you complete the course within 6 months to honor your commitment. Your 50 hours will include reading, taking quizzes and tests, written homework assignments, viewing videos and preparing for and delivering your final teachback class.

Upon completion of the online training program, you will be offered a completion status.

Thi i h t t R i t d Y T h b fit Th Y Vi t

This is where your status as a Registered Yoga Teacher benefits you. The Yoga Vista Academy can provide Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Units only to Registered Yoga Teachers. Thus, if you are an RYT, you will receive 10 CEUs upon course completion. That is a full year’s worth of required CEUs from Yoga Alliance! You also will be given a Chair Yoga Teacher Certificate indicating your are a Certified Chair Yoga Teacher. If you are not an RYT, but complete the course with a passing grade, you will receive a Chair Yoga Training Program Completion document This document can be given to the Chair Yoga Training Program Completion document. This document can be given to the institution, organization, company, etc. that is hiring you to teach Chair Yoga as proof you have the necessary training and skills. This will not be a Certification, so you will need to check with your hiring institution on exactly what documentation they require.

The Yoga Vista Academy does not have any association with other healthcare

organizations other than Yoga Alliance to offer continuing education units. If you want to earn CEUs for nursing, massage therapy, physical therapy, etc, you will need to check with ea C Us o u s g, assage e apy, p ys ca e apy, e c, you eed o c ec your Professional Association for specifics on whether Yoga is allowed in their CEU program.

(8)

This is not a cookie-cutter program, or memorized script of poses you do in specific sequences every time your teach a Chair Yoga class. There are programs and philosophies out there that train like that, but my approach is different. I want to educate you on teaching and movement philosophies to empower you to offer Yoga poses and sequences that meet the specific needs of your student audience. In that way, YOU can decide what poses to offer and what modifications are needed. I want you to be creative and develop your unique style of teaching.

Your one hour Chair Yoga Teachback will be a great way for you to demonstrate that you have learned the information and can apply it in a unique and creative way that only YOU can.

(9)

I want to reinforce that this training is for group Chair Yoga classes. No matter if you are teaching to a small or large group of students, I guarantee you that everyone in class will not be in the same physical condition. And many times, you may not know exactly what physical issues a student may have. Especially when teaching in an Assisted Living center because patient privacy laws may inhibit you from knowing much about your students.

Thus why observation is important. You will be learning through lots of photos of various students in various poses so you can become familiar with common issues and challenges a student may have. Offering up variations and modifications for those that need it, but allowing the full expression of the pose to be explored by your more able-bodied students, is a tightrope you will always walk as a Chair Yoga Teacher.

Your verbal cues and directions can support a safe environment as well. Throughout this Program, you will be offered “cue tips” so you learn the do and don’ts of specific movements.

(10)

This course has a philosophy and a methodology that is fundamental to the delivery of a safe and effective Chair Yoga class. Thus, I will share the whys, hows and whens of offering various Yoga poses and sequences for your group classes. If your students are all in wheelchairs and cannot stand, then of course you pose selection will be much different than teaching to a class with students in regular chairs.

Teaching a Chair Yoga class takes some forethought as you don’t want to have the students coming up and off the chair, and back down like a jack-in-the box. That means offering up a series of seated poses, and a series of standing poses that flow seamlessly and effectively.

How these poses are woven together have specific physical benefits and thus why sequencing is important to learn.

You will learn the modular design of creating a Chair Yoga class that enables you to easily teach a 30, 45, 60 or 75 minute class. My hope is that you never have to

i l i t b l ill b fl id d d i t

memorize a class script because your classes will become fluid and dynamic to meet the current needs of your students on that particular day.

(11)

We will spend quite a bit of time on the Anatomy of Aging, so we know better what happens as we age and what our students may be experiencing themselves. I promise I won’t test you on every muscle, bone and joint… but I do want you to understand enough about how our beautiful bodies work and how it changes over time. And of course, how Yoga supports healthy aging.

Interwoven in all of the modules will be cautions and pose contraindications for the various conditions, issues, illnesses and health status of our students. Most of us are not doctors, so we are not in a position to diagnose. However, we are in a position to understand what limitations our students may have and what precautions we can offer to them to keep them safe. There will be times you have very able-bodied people in your classes and then some in wheelchairs, and capabilities in between. Working with a students of multiple abilities will be challenging, but rewarding

rewarding.

I will spend some time talking about the various students you might have in your class and actually go through some real life scenarios and photos of students for observation purposes. In that way, you can know what to expect when you teach a Group Senior Chair Yoga class.

(12)

I have created Yoga Pose and Sequence Photos and Video Libraries that contain hundreds of poses and variations grouped by topic and/or anatomical area. With so much variety, it is my hope your classes will never feel repetitive and stale.

I often name my poses or sequences just for the fun of it.

A few of them are: “Life Force Reach” “Ms Sassy Pants” “Happy Hands” and A few of them are: Life Force Reach , Ms. Sassy Pants , Happy Hands and “Pulling Taffy”. These are descriptive to the movement the pose offers, and a way for students (and me!) to remember the pose. I highly encourage you to be creative and name your poses as well.

(13)

I am using the common technology of YouTube videos and PDF files so that this Program is accessible to almost everyone with an internet connection. We all know that people learn in so many different ways. Some people like to read, listen, watch and/or write. So my program will contain all of these learning modalities.

There will be a lecture component where I will narrate over a Powerpoint presentation the concepts that will be covered in more depth throughout the

Module. Very similar to what I am doing now. These narrated presentations will be available in a downloadable PDF with the written narration so that you can follow along or print them out to create your own Chair Yoga Training Manual.

There will be reading assignments for each Chapter in a Module that will cover specific topics in depth – with lots of photos, descriptions and explanations. These p p p p p p are all in downloadable PDFs as well. By the time you complete the Program, you will have hundreds of detailed pages on teaching Chair Yoga. A great resource for many years to come!

And lastly, you will have access to my expansive Video Library of Yoga poses and sequences organized in vignettes as well as full-length one hour Chair Yoga classes q g g g g filmed at my Yoga Studio, Yoga Vista.

(14)

I will be your lead teacher throughout this training program. I am an E-RYT registered with the Yoga Alliance and have had the honor to present at 3 Yoga Alliance Conference on the topic of Gentle, Senior and Chair Yoga.

I have been teaching Yoga since 2004 and had the privilege of having a private 3-year mentorship with Mary Cavanaugh, the founder of Chair Yoga and a student of Indra Devi. Much of the work I do today with Seniors was pioneered by Mary who I met when she was 79 years old. She passed away in 2005, but her work carries on through me and all of you!

I have owned the Yoga Vista Studio in Vista, CA studio since 2005 where we offer over 25 studio classes per week as well as classes at libraries, seniors centers, hospitals, assisted living centers and corporations. Almost all of my videos were p g p y recorded at my studio with the loving support of our students, who know that their efforts are benefiting teachers and students around the world.

(15)

Throughout the Program, you will see photos and videos of several other Yoga Vista Academy teachers including my partner Justine Shelton, E-RYT500 and Co-Director of the Academy and AVI-Certified Viniyoga Therapist. Justine has been instrumental in ensuring that all the Yoga poses and sequences are presented in a safe way with contraindications noted when needed.

Paula Montalvo is a teacher at my studio and we tag team teaching Chair Yoga to hundreds of Senior Citizens every month. She is currently 82 years old and brings a realistic perspective of aging and Yoga. You will see her in photos and in live class teachings.

James Knight is a Hanna Somatics Educator and has influenced me personally and professional on body movement. Erhard Rohrmuller is a Physiologist and

Soma-p y y g

Kinetic expert that I hold in high regard. Their work focuses on how to break old movement patterns to release tension and pain from the body. And as you can imagine, Seniors have quite of bit of habitual patterns that have etched into their bodies – and many of them are in pain. I am honored to offer a section dedicated to Somatics in this online Program that I have modified to be done in a Chair.

(16)

I look forward to leading you through this Online Chair Yoga Training & Certification Program. This will be a wonderful journey together!

If you have any questions about this Program, please do not hesitate to contact me. You can find me online or teaching in and around Vista, California!