Testimonials: Training Manuals

The first course I completed in the area of working with Seniors was through University of Limerick which gave me a good base and foundation but having completed both Chair and Gentle Courses along with online material , youtube clips, dvd sets, and so much more information from the video libraries it has given me the opportunity to continue exercising and pass on a wide range of knowledge and advice to my students in 17 weekly classes I have on a weekly basis, so huge thanks and blessing Sherry for continuing to pass on your invaluable knowledge and skills.

I give the Yoga Vista Gentle and Chair Yoga courses my highest recommendation! Sherry and Justine have perfected the art of online teaching. The written materials are comprehensive, detailed, and some of the best reference sources in my entire yoga library. The many hours of videos are equally outstanding, offering a variety of teaching styles, methodologies, and information. I expected to receive outstanding instruction in Gentle and Chair Yoga. What I didn’t expect, but received in abundance, was these courses making me a better teacher overall, as well as a better teacher trainer. These courses truly have been a highlight of my ongoing yoga education!

What I loved about the Online Chair Yoga Program! 1. The written PDF’s that went with most of the Video’s. 2. I liked the exams throughout because it kept it very fresh. 3. The PDF’s are fantastic reference documents, so those are so nice to have. 4. The video – MOST all were very good. 5. Library of postures is great to have with the handout’s as well, because the names are different than we use in other yoga classes! 🙂 6. In the video’s themselves, one thing I really like was being able to see the seniors do it with you. It gave me an idea of what those postures look like for them because I find myself wanting to correct their form when it may be all they can do.

You continually offer interesting, informative & educational tips; videos for a wide range of health issues as well as the aging population. I bring something new to my classes every week 🙂 thank you.

I enjoyed the Anatomy Module. I knew a lot of the basic anatomy already, but I really appreciated tying that to the problems that Seniors have and then showing why certain poses helped with these problems. It is great to have all of this in a coherent, organized form. I will refer back to these chapters when I plan my lessons. Thank you for the user-friendly curriculum. I look forward to the rest of the course.

I totally loved the handouts and videos and will use them for years to come. I have two private clients right now. She has SI joint instability and he has chronic sciatica! This info makes me look like I know what I’m doing. Thank you!!

Yoga Vista Academy‘s Chair Yoga Certification Program provided a written PDF to accompany the video presentation which I found beneficial to the student to read and follow as well as a great reference source to keep. I have already referred back to the PDF notes several times. The library of postures is also a good reference source for poses and their unique names. I found the videos to be very helpful especially to see the students go through the asanas to the best of their ability with modifications provided to accommodate each body and level of ability.

I’ve had to expand my chair classes as they’ve been a huge success. Word has spread through neighboring studios and they send their Seniors my way. Just wanted to thank you for your updates and constant vigil. Very much appreciated. I see not only great strides in my students but a social bonding as well. They rarely miss a class. Which is a far different story from when I was just teaching mainstream Yoga. If I find I have medical questions I can usually refer back to my notes for the most part and send them in a good direction. I’ve incorporated a bit of humor from my own perspective and hopefully encouraged them to laugh in the face of aging. It has become a beautiful practice for all of us.

A BIG thank you to all of you! I learned so much through this program and now I have great resources (videos, manual, YOU) I can turn to when needed.

I did love the program itself, I love all the information, chapters, etc., and how I was able to print out everything and make a large binder to keep forever for reference. Any time I had questions while going through the information, Sherry was just an email away with the answer, and always very prompt.

One of the biggest things I like about this program, is that I almost feel like I know you all, after watching videos, studying, phone calls and emails. That is very important to me!

I truly found the Chair Yoga Program to be beyond informative. You offer SO many resources to the student. I loved that a mentoring program was offered, studying at your own pace, yoga videos, modules, and “spot on” yoga lessons. I learned so much regarding anatomy and the aging of our bodies and how to correct and decrease pain. I liked the emphasis on how to cue and speaking loud and clearly. Honestly, I would highly recommend this training to any one that wants to incorporate these important subjects. For me personally, I have become a better version of myself.

The Yoga Vista Academy means many things to me and has completely transformed my yoga teaching skills. Although some aspects of yoga are too subtle to be learned from books or lectures, I had absolutely no trouble developing a deeper understanding through all the videos and tools online with a variety of methods for attaining goals. The Yoga Vista Academy accommodates a wide range of lifestyles and values. The Yoga Vista Academy has changed my skills for the better and continues to transform them every day. I highly recommend this program!

I truly love the fact that Yoga Vista Academy offers a platform where the materials and videos are always available. I am a big fan of e-learning through pre-recorded videos and written materials. I am currently enrolled in a children yoga teacher program that is offered by video conference. Although, it’s fun to be able to interact live with my teacher, I would much prefer to be able to watch the video a few times as I find that I forget information especially if it’s new. I need to hear and experience it more than once for it to sink in, hence the beauty of Yoga Vista Academy online certification programs.

I am so happy to be a member of the Yoga Vista Academy graduates. You both are doing amazing work in teaching and inspiring people to teach yoga to seniors. I have recommended your training to many people.

The online format you use is simple to navigate, and easy to follow. There is so much wonderful information to glean from the videos and in the written portion. When I first began teaching chair yoga, I would make up routines to work the 8 bearing joints, some of which I still use today. Then I discovered your Youtube Yoga Vista videos and became so inspired by your passion I just knew I had found mine too. Sherry I feel like you are my yoga sister!

Independent study using computer prepared manual, pictures, examples and videos gave me the feeling of being “in” a classroom. The quizzes helped me to know that I was on the right path. I was able to practice adaptations for Yoga in a chair and standing that I could recommend to students who were unable to manage asanas in the traditional Yoga way, or were not strong enough to manage Yoga on a mat. I found that during the time I was teaching these principles, the students were gaining confidence, strength, balance and flexibility at their own pace. The class gave me great respect for the effort the students were making and the increase of joy in their faces as time went on! It gives me a great feeling to assist seniors with the knowledge obtained from the class.

I am so grateful to be a part of this yoga community! I have learned so much about anatomy, thanks to you and Justine. I really like the way the course is designed. Taking the a test after each section is brilliant! I have three notebooks full of information that you guys provided throughout the course. Wonderful to have to refer back to. Having access to the teaching videos is something that I take advantage of on a regular basis. A chair yoga teacher who attends my gentle yoga classes when in my area, is so impressed with what I have learned is going to take the chair yoga course you offer.

Content… The amount of information in the course was unbelievable. It was well-delivered. The PDF documents were organized perfectly. And I appreciate the videos throughout. Applying different learning methods really helped it all come together for me. Testing… I actually felt like I got real feedback. This is so unusual this day and age and I feel like I am a better teacher for it. The course made me stop and think about who I am as a teacher.

Truth be told I refer ALL of my students to you and your amazing team-whether they are chair yoga students or chair yoga teacher training students because you are amazing!!! You are truly offering some incredible things to our community and I know when I first started out, you (your videos) were there for me every step of the way. I’m deeply grateful for the support they gave (and continue to give) me.

It’s all going smooth and sweet so far. And such a great training! Really good work. Many practical advices, examples, testimonies, shared experiences, all knowledge good and precisely presented, easy to follow (nice handouts!) and very practice oriented. Well done indeed.

I LEARNED SO MUCH from this course! Justine beautifully presents high quality information here that is particularly special because it is infused with her own personal experiences with herself as well as her clients. I am truly inspired and cannot wait to get out there and work with and help people with back pain. I have chronic back pain as well so that was my first motivation for taking the course; to use it for myself. It has made me so much more aware and present in my own body and has definitely helped strengthen my core. Often after a course I might still feel not very confident with the material to start using it, but the homework assignments and teachback final really make sure you are ready with at least a good amount of the material. I am sure I will refer back to it over the years and will always find something new and useful. Thank you Justine, for sharing your knowledge, your humor, and your heart!

Sherry, Justine are such authentic, caring people reaching out to a worldwide community. I am just one of them, and so very grateful for all of the support they have given me. Having their manuals would be a fantastic asset to share with all of my Creative Yoga Motion students here in Wales, as we can’t fly weekly to attend your classes and workshops in Vista, CA.

I do love the course materials, You Tubes, newsletters, etc. but somehow I became, in Corey’s nice word, “stalled.” A few days after Corey emailed me, I finished the section on the spine and took the tests. Thank you for creating the mentor/cheerleader position. I feel I’m not alone now.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this course and learnt so much. Information that I can use for my Chair Yoga Classes but also for my regular yoga practices as well. Everything was explained so simply and was easy to understand, its also great that I can keep going back over information and re watch the videos when I need to. I would not hesitate in recommending this course to anyone who is looking to teach chair yoga or yoga for seniors.

Loved the program and have been recommending it big time. I learned a lot from it and have brought many things I learned into my regular classes as well. I feel so much better about teaching seniors and chair yoga after taking this course. You probably were able to tell I have mastered the tea cup and finally figured out how to cue it. All my students love that one and many others. My feedback is all positive. Being able to do it on my time table was extremely helpful. I did everything! The videos were great as well as the anatomy PDFs.

Thank you so much again for your wonderful Chair Yoga course!! I especially enjoyed the great review on Anatomy. I greatly appreciate that your resources will be my wonderful library of information to refer to when needed. The online setup worked great for me too. I also gave my feedback via Yoga Alliance.

Great Stuff! The content is world class, and I loved the option to read and watch the video at the same time. Super organized and easy to follow. The sections build on one another nicely. Definitely felt like a good value. Super glad that I can go back and watch the videos whenever I want to. That is a huge selling point.

You know that the only reason why “I got it”, is because your videos and handouts are exceptional and that I viewed your materials at least 3 times. In some cases, I used your videos for my personal practice and then taught your sequence to my students as a way of reinforcing what I learned from you. My students love your teachings and keep coming for more.

I enjoyed the course material. Even though I took a long time to actually finish I started using the poses in my classes from the get-go. Every time I log into the course I find something fresh that I’d forgotten about. I loved the way you married the poses and conditions with the anatomy. My original YTT didn’t do that and it was a huge frustration. I do really love getting your little videos each week and have definitely lifted some of those vinyasas and used them.

Thanks so much for all the endless hours it must have taken to produce this course. I’m sure everyone one of us who have taken it has benefited tremendously from all your effort, experience and dedication.

I just wanted to share with you that today I did my first full chair yoga in a nursing home. Todate I’ve taught to the Parkinson Association, then set up my own chair yoga class in my home town for the active retired, but today I took it to a whole new level where every one was in wheelchair, several amputees, deaf and even one blind man. Now! you’d swear I was doing this all my life as it was one of the most enjoyable, rewarding and humbling class, and boy our seniors love a laugh, they had me sing Joe Dolan-More And More, Neil Diamond-Hands Touching Hands. It was fantastic! Everyone engaged and love it.

So I guess I was so excited about it all that I just wanted to share it with you. This was all possible thanks to you, your team and all your invaluable handouts, videos, tests and teachbacks even though it’s an overwhelming amount of material. Love, love, love you and your Vista Team xxxxx

I was brave and enrolled. I just wanted to tell you how much I am enjoying the course so far. I have only just started and it’s going to take a while as I work as well. But I can’t wait to get home at night and read or listen. Your knowledge is so inspiring. I just wanted to say thank you for running this course online. The videos and notes are amazing.

Each unit had a fully color detailed handout, easy to follow videos and an abundant of yoga pose library to suit each body part or a personal injury or condition. I especially loved the Anatomy so much fantastic information and illustrations throughout.

The chair yoga teacher training program was invaluable to hone and fine-tune my yoga education to serve the 55+ population I teach in South Florida. I found that during my 200 hour certification, anatomy was my weakest area because I just didn’t have much of an interest or understanding, but in this program it was so easy to follow that I found myself becoming an anatomy geek. It was general anatomy, yes, but also what happens to the body as it ages, or with various health conditions. I find myself incorporating many of the concepts and movements into my traditional hatha mat classes as well, and the class attendance has improved as a result. I was dubious about how well I would learn using video content, and was very pleasantly surprised to find out how effective it was. Not only did I feel as if I was there, but I have all of the content as reference materials too! I highly recommend this course, and all Yoga Vista Academy offerings. May we keep up this vital work that blesses so many!

Delving into the course material over the span of about five months helped me learn the importance of the “why” behind each movement and communicate that to the seniors I teach. As I continued through the course I applied what I learned in my classes which made them fresh and vibrant each time. I have significantly expanded my movement repertoire and confidence regardless of my audience size or level. I am better equipped to pull up whatever is needed to meet the group or person in front of me.

The course material is meticulous, well organized and infused with live vignettes and lots of subject matter experts in related fields. The handouts and multidimensional libraries of anatomy and poses are just wonderful! I think it’s a win win for all yoga teachers wherever you are in your practice and teaching.

It’s nice to come home to the library and know there’s so much expertise I can draw on as I reorient myself in this new year, and learn new tricks to care not only for my students but for me too. And everything looks smashing too!

Thank you for providing such a comprehensive course. I found it so easy to work through the modules because of the way the course was designed. The information on how to sequence and to better understand the physiological issues, that seniors may present with, was invaluable. I felt fully supported throughout the course, and I will continue to refer to the course materials ongoing.

I bought videos, manuals and an online workshop from the Academy and each time I was amazed by the quality of the material. I like the information on the anatomy it helps me to understand more deeply the benefits of the posture. The illustrations are explicit and facilitate the learnings.

Please Excuse my writing I am a francophone and I do not get to write in English very often.

This 60 Hr Chair Yoga Teacher Training course with Sherry Zac Morris of Yoga Vista Academy was a highly informative and most enjoyable course. Each topic is discuss in full detail and is backed up with a full color handout and backed up again with full educational videos. There are test at the end of the units that put you to the test but excellent to do. It has made me highly knowledgeable in Teaching Methodology, Techniques, Training & Practice, Anatomy & Physiology, Yoga Philosophy and Lifestyle & Ethic which I now carry with full confidence to my own classes that I teach.

Awesome on line course! Sherry has been so helpful – Great Hands on Guidance! I never expected Sherry to actually call me and walk me through the steps to get my Mac set up for the course! I truly felt welcomed and on my way to success! The video’s and written materials are spot on! Great resources to go back to again and again! I am grateful that my Yoga Journey has taken me down the Chair Yoga path. Thank you to everyone at Yoga Vista Academy. Keep up the great work! Namaste!

WOW! I received so much personal growth from the Chair Yoga certification course. The teachers are knowledgeable, experienced and supportive which provided for a wonderful learning experience. Each of their unique backgrounds and approaches provided another dimension to the course. The materials were rich with information and well-written. There was so much more that I received from taking this class than I had ever thought possible. Thanks so much for all that you and your staff do to help teachers like me grow in our yogic lives.

I have to say that I am THOROUGHLY enjoying this course. As a technical writer and instructional designer for the past 25 years, I have to admit that I am a bit “snobbish” about participating in training programs as an attendee. The design of this course is fabulous. I love that you provide the options of auditory and visual means for learning (I happen to be visual).

The size of each module allows a person to successfully complete the modules even within the time constraints of their personal and professional lives. I particularly like having the PDF files (not only because I’m visual) but because I can print them and highlight things that warrant my personal attention further.

I opened one of the manuals last week in preparation for my chair yoga class. Your content is amazing! There is so much useful information and I appreciate all of your hard work and dedication to creating this program.

It was such a blessing for me to come across the Yoga Vista Academy online program. It’s inexpensive and easy to work. I was able to recieve such detailed knowledge on the aging process and all the main issues that can contribute to pain. Learning about the anatomy was so helpful. I appreciated the information to print and videos to reinforce what you are learning. I loved Sherry’s style and she really inspired me to become the best chair yoga teacher I can be.

There are different types and styles of yoga and working with students on this program that brings such variety and benefits. All the teachers are dedicated and inspiring. You become a part of that community, with the ability to use the videos as often as you desire. I could go on and on about Yoga Vista Academy online program. I plan on continuing going through some more of the many workshops and programs, for there are many! I recommend it highly!

What LOVE best about Yoga Vista Academy is the comprehensive detail to the online trainings and manuals. As on occupational therapist with over 20 years experience, I have never taken an anatomy and movement course specifically for geriatrics AND with the detail and care the information was presented. I am so happy I found this resource. I haven’t finished the Chair Yoga for Seniors course just yet but have incorporated what I have learned thus far with the geriatric patients I have on my caseload. Thank you!

I learned many new things and I especially liked the fact I didn’t have to take notes, I could sit and listen! I learn and retain information better by experiencing. The PDF handout is a gem.

I really enjoyed going through the course at my own pace and found that I learned and re learned many things—using your manual. I totally appreciate all that you share and promote. I continually add and learn things from the newsletter and reviewing the manual. The quizzes were helpful.

Great program, videos and pdf-handouts. Important knowledge for all yoga teachers. Even as a former nurse and with a previous therapeutic yoga teacher background, I learned a lot from this program and would highly recommend it to others. I’m very happy that I found it, and signed up!

The downloadable handouts are very informative with a lot of detailed pictures. The videos and Justine’s teaching are great. She shares a lot of knowledge and is easy to follow. I also liked the quiz following each chapter, a good way to check your progress.

I wanted to learn more about yoga adapted to common back problems. I teach regular classes and smaller groups for people with different health problems. Back problems are very common, and something every teacher at some point will meet. Knowing what postures to choose and which ones to avoid, and individual adaption is the key to a safe yoga practise.

I recently gave up my job to teach more classes and set up a lovely chair yoga class in my home town Tramore for the active retired, and a nursing home has asked me to start this Tuesday so I start your module on Teaching Chair Yoga in Senior Care Facilities before I started on the Teach back. It’s so great to have each and every module, handout and video to help us yogis along in their journey to help others. I will be eternally grateful to you and all your time, effort and love in creating these online courses.