Testimonials: Chair Yoga Dance-Concept

I just had to share with you, I did What a Wonderful World all week. The first time I did it was with my Assisted Living group, and I started crying during the song! It was so moving, and they really loved it! Thank you so much for what you have created.

I currently teach 3 chair yoga classes, and my students have commented on how much they like the new format! I have been shamelessly stealing your dances off the videos and have created a 2 of my own (honestly, just rearranging your movements, mostly). The dances are my seniors’ favorite part of the class.

My daughter had spastic cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair exclusively. She just turned 20 and her school is trying to find “work” for her in our community as she transitions out of special education. Recent my daughter discovered you on YouTube and is an avid fan of your chair yoga. Her mobility specialist thought her interest in yoga, music, and how social she is might be something she could do for a “job”. In addition to the chair yoga being a huge benefit to my daughter and her CP. Emma wanted to work at our local hospital and long term care center as a good friend of ours works there. So this summer her specialist set it up for Emma to go to our long term care center and do yoga with the residents. Emma and the residents are really enjoying this.

Sherry – This week FB reminded me it’s been two years since I took your training when you came to VA. What a wild and crazy two years it has been. I believe I told you before, it was your training that was pivotal to re-igniting my love of yoga and reminding me why I had elected to become a teacher at such a late stage of my life. Since June 2017 I began subbing a chair yoga class in a residential retirement community – just a few classes at first, because I couldn’t commit too much time as my hubby was healing. This class as well as a gentle class I taught brought joy back into my life. Flash forward 2 years, I now have a pretty good portfolio of chair yoga dances, both those I learned from you and those which students asked me to design a chair yoga dance to tunes of their favorite songs.

I have found so much joy in incorporating dances in my yoga classes. The dancing really changes the routine and the addition of the music and familiar songs makes the class a little jewel in the day for the seniors I teach and for me! I use the songs at the beginning, end and middle of the class.

Yesterday, six women aged 50 – 75 (some of whom had never done yoga) joined me at a local yoga studio as models for my photo shoot. A highlight of the session was learning Chair Yoga Dance. I taught them your version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow and one of my dances, (put together at the requested of an 80+ retired Army Colonel) – Rock Around the Clock.

The group had so much fun yesterday afternoon. None of them had ever tried Chair Yoga, let alone Chair Yoga Dance! I was more relaxed and joyful than I’ve ever been for any photo session. So, thank you for restoring my love of yoga and helping me find a joyful “retirement” career which is more rewarding than I could ever imagine.

Where I work is a day habilitation center for adults with multiple kinds of disabilities. About a month or so ago, we decided to try to find some morning exercise routine in which to start our day. While searching google for ‘chair yoga’, we came across your videos. Now every single morning from 8:30-9 am, we all pull out some chairs, set up YouTube, and work out to your videos! The people I work with, clients and staff alike, love your videos. A couple of fan favorites are “Can’t Stop the Feeling”, “I Can See Clearly Now”, and we always conclude with “Amazing Grace”.

This is my fourth week teaching my chair yoga classes. I am doing three a week and everyone is loving it. We did the dance to ‘What a Wonderful World’ this week. THANK YOU. Sherry, I am HAVING SO MUCH FUN AND CANNOT THANK YOU ENOUGH. I hope I get to hug you one day in person. You are a blessing to me and so many others!!!!

I plan on celebrating my completion and certification (your honest and comprehensive feedback is amazing). Really I had an absolute ball last year with this course. Learning the dances, practicing them with my students has completely changed how I approach my chair yoga classes. I always include two yoga dances, and the end of the month culminates in an entire hour of yoga dances. The majority of my students, don’t miss a week and I am finding a significant retention of my students. I know it is due in part, to including yoga dance. But watching your delivery, and learning all the factoids and other bits you add to a class, including naming the postures, has helped to develop my teaching skills. I am a very good teacher because of what I’ve learned from you.

The first time I learned about YOU was on-line. I was researching ideas on yoga training and with the click of a button found you dancing to Living on the Corner of Joy and Gratitude. I felt your big heart and love for your students come through the computer screen that day. As I danced along and couldn’t quit smiling, I knew you had something special to offer and had to find out more. Fast forward to today and I have completed the on-line Chair Yoga training as well as my Teachback. I include several of your dances in my current Silver Sneakers classes. ‘The River’ is their favorite.

I’m a senior nursing school student and we are currently doing a clinical rotation at senior apartment homes. Part of our rotation consists of holding a weekly dancercise class for the residents who wish to participate. We’ve been using many of your videos as a part of our class and the seniors (and we) are enjoying them. Thank you so much for this resource and for your joy in encouraging dance and yoga at all ages!

I thought it was fantastic. Thank you so much for making learning fun. I love the new jingle bell dance and I’m looking forward to to trying it out in my Friday assisted living class. I think they will be able to handle it and really enjoy it.

Thanks for all your beautiful chair dances & other wonderful yoga stretches which I also bring to my gentle yoga classes. You are an inspiration!

I just wanted to let you know that I work for an organization that services people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. We do exercising with our people, they were getting bored with what we had been doing. I found your Chair Yoga videos and this was a game changer for them. I take a group out to the local parks on Monday mornings and we do them outside. They love the songs and learning the movements. Their favorite is Over the Rainbow with Israel. Thank you so much for what you do and making their exercise time something they look forward to.

Sherry I have worked at a day program with disabled adults for 31 years and came about finding you on Yo site u tube. Myself and a coworker have been using your YouTube site to get the people we serve to exercise. They all get involved doing the moves and singing to the music.

In my personal case I feel that this is wonderful for older adults. Every day I discover more the desire to live to enjoy that they have, I am surprised, I am fascinated, it is like that playful part that lacked yoga, they love to meditate, but I feel this part as a meditation in movement, although none of the musical themes are slow, they expect this part as children waiting for their candy, this is what fascinates me.

You are an amazing woman. Thanks again for sharing your heart and beautiful spirit with the world! The world is definitely a better place with you in it. Someone came up to me today after class and said she got emotional during ‘I Hope You Dance’ because doctor’s just found a mass in her husband’s lung. He has been a long time smoker and they are just in the beginning stages of figuring everything out. She said he told her she had to come to class today because she needs to stay strong. Sherry, I don’t take your teaching for granted and will always do my very best to honor you and the work each and every time I teach.

I’ve already started teaching chair dance yoga. Here in Ireland, I teach a couple of classes a week to wheelchair users through Irish Wheelchair Association. I did the course to liven up the classes and it’s worked a treat. A lot of them are over 60 or 70 and I did Que Sera Sera this week. They absolutely loved it! They’ve loved all of them but particularly this one.

I’m a Occupational Therapy Assistant and I started doing this dance with selected patients to address upper extremity range of motion and endurance and they LOVE it! Thank you so much!

I loved the Chair Yoga Dance Training program. It was so much fun and so easy to work through. The dances are a just the right amount of challenging. And, I love the variety in music. Since starting the program, I have used three dances during my gentle chair yoga classes (Que Sera Sera, Everything’s Gonna Be Alright, and The River) and my students LOVE them. Even those that don’t “feel like dancers” find them fun and easy to follow along with. Thank you so much for this training. I highly recommend it. 🙂

Just want to let you know I did the chair yoga dance “Forever Young”. It was very well received so I will give it a try this week again.😃. I will think about pursuing the chair yoga dance program. Thanks very much for all you do for the advancement of chair yoga. Without you we would all not be where we are today in spreading chair yoga to so many people.

SHERRY…..LOVED YOUR NEW DISCO YOGA DANCE ROUTINE. HOPE YOU CAN DO MORE OF THEM. MY GIRLS (70’s to the 90 year olds) ABSOLUTELY LOVE THE DANCES. IN FACT MY CLASSES HAVE INCREASED SINCE I INTRODUCED THEM. NAMASTE! BOBBY

We use these songs and Chair Yoga dances each week where I work. I work with special needs adults and they absolutely love doing these together! Thanks for all that you do in making and sharing these videos!!!!! Elim Christian Services is a special needs school in Crestwood near Chicago and I work in Adult Services.

Writing to say how grateful I am for you & all the positive, creative, life-inspiring things you share with yogis. Had to admit – initially I felt yoga chair dance was a bit “hokey”–coming from a fitness background “I” wanted “my” classes to be “yoga”. But your YouTube dances have been tweaking my interest & I gave it a try the past 2 weeks in several seniors chair yoga classes & WOW was I wrong!!!! My yogis absolutely LOVE the chair dances & when it’s LOVE it’s all YOGA!!!! Thank you so much for opening me to something new!~Namaste, Kim

Thanks Sherry for selflessly sharing your dance moves and videos. I watch and learn a lot from them. I do teach Karma Chair Yoga (all voluntary) as an healthy alternative to different cultural groups and I incorporate a lot of dance and moves related to the music and the classes are so popular. I am a singer too so it helps in the movements.

Once again, I wanted to acknowledge you and your sharing of your contributions and your beautiful ideas and moves to benefit all our aging families, friends and communities.

I incorporate Yoga Dance into every senior’s chair yoga classes. Once a month I offer an all yoga dance hour. I have witnessed significant increases in student numbers. I am sure this is because it introduces a physical activity to seniors that is fun, socially engaging and imaginative. Seniors love to dance and the feedback is always positive.

I just love the song by Rob Thomas. I’ve been learning it all day today & will do the dance in my seniors class tomorrow morning.

An area that I have been investigating is how positivity and happiness affect health, and the relationship between health and the positivity of Chair Yoga Dance. I am confident that every teacher who uses Chair Yoga Dance witnesses students having fun, laughing and increased smiles. It has been my experience that student’s level of happiness increases during Chair Yoga Dance and my students report they feel the psychological and physical benefits.

Dr. Barbara Fredrickson, a leading researcher at the University of North Carolina in the expanding field of Positive Psychology wrote, “When people get excited about their physical health potential it is possible to thrive in life, even in the face of illness.” I believe it is empowering for yoga teachers to understand the medical evidence underpinning the potential benefits of Chair Yoga Dance. This is especially true in the field of positive psychology and aging. I incorporate more of elements of positivity, eye contact and reassuring smiles during Chair Yoga Dance sessions, my students love the classes and keep returning for more.

Cute story from our Polar Vortex Minnesota winter. Last week temperatures dipped into the -30° and less range. I cancelled most of my classes, but my boss convinced me to teach one of the Chair Yoga Classes, totally against my better judgement. I am not a Minnesota native at all, and this weather challenges me, so, I had no desire whatsoever to teach or be out. I sat in an empty classroom for quite some time, until finally 5 brave souls arrived. As I was so stressed about getting to the class, I did not prepare for the class. So, I asked, “What would you like to do today?” Immediately, I heard “Chair Yoga Dancing!”