Classes


Transition Yoga offers a variety of thematic classes, with aging bodies and minds leading the way. Your private lessons may incorporate one focused theme or several themes combined. We continually assess your abilities, needs, and room for growth each day we practice together. By design, Transition Yoga works within your comfort to improve your quality of life.

Active Over 50

Coordinating movement and breath in a hatha yoga class is good for almost anyone. It’s ideal for those over 50 who want to build physical and mental strength. These classes focus on an awareness of the body’s changing needs as we age. Enjoy an enlivening sequence of sun salutations, warrior poses, balance postures, twists, forward bends and back bends, as well as some restorative poses and breathwork. All classes are beginner friendly and adaptable to your abilities.

Backbone

The spine is home to our central nervous system and so important to the whole body and brain. As we age we feel the effects of gravity, and the habits of poor sleep or posture. Yoga for the backbone includes gentle twists, lateral bends, supported forward bends, and back bends to open up space between the vertebrae. We also work on building core strength to support spinal health.

Balance and Stability

As we age we tend to be less steady on our feet, and too often falls lead to disabling injuries or death. This is why it’s so important to practice balance and stability. In these classes, we work on the whole body from the top of the head to the tips of our toes. We tune into how our eyes and ears play a role in balance, and we develop an awareness of how mobility in the neck, shoulders, hips, knees, and feet anchor us to a stable base. What’s beautiful about this yoga practice is that a balanced body supports a balanced mind too.

Bed Based Practice

Sometimes we can’t get out of bed because of an illness or injury, but that doesn’t have to stop us from practicing yoga. A bed based practice is also a great way for anyone to stretch the body first thing in the morning or settle down for a good night’s sleep. These classes are adapted to your specific needs and involve gentle, accessible movement, as well as therapeutic yoga for revitalizing you in the morning, soothing you to sleep, or complementing your medical care.

Boning Up

One of the most important tools for preventing osteoporosis is weight bearing exercise. Harvard Medical School reports that a consistent yoga practice for as little as 12 minutes daily can increase bone density and help to prevent falls. Transition Yoga can guide you safely through yoga asanas such as warrior pose, chair pose, bridge pose, and tree pose, which are ideal for bone health and balance. I’ll work with you to establish a regular routine in your daily schedule. Once you get started, you’ll never want to stop.

Breathing Easy

If you have lung disease or heart disease, popular vinyasa style yoga classes might leave you short of breath, dizzy, and agitated. At Transition Yoga we start with your lung capacity, your body, and your mind to teach a range of comfortable movement and breath practices for you. Only by working within your comfort will you get the benefits of deeper, calmer, soothing breaths.

Bright Eyes

Macular degeneration and other eye conditions can, unfortunately, be worsened by some yogic postures like inversions. Transition Yoga draws on yogic traditions and modern functional integration to design subtle and supportive movements for eye health. Vision goes beyond seeing clearly. It’s key to balance, attention, and eye contact. In that sense, eye yoga can help prevent falls, improve cognitive function, and foster social connections. Give your eyes a little love.

Cancer Care

A cancer diagnosis is hard on the body and the mind. Yoga is becoming a popular, evidence-based practice in cancer treatment centres, and for good reason. Yoga helps to restore you after a draining round of radiation. It can help manage the stress, worry, and low moods that come with a diagnosis. Yoga improves your sleep, too, which is essential for healing. Transition Yoga can help you through your cancer journey with supportive sequences of movement, breath, and mindfulness.

Chair Yoga

If you have mobility issues, you are not alone. And you can move! Chair yoga has become enormously popular because it’s accessible to nearly everyone. By taking the weight off our feet we have a stable base. From there, it feels great to move our arms and feet, stretch our spines, and open up space to the vital organs. Our breath deepens and circulation improves. You’ll feel more alert and relaxed, especially after a guided meditation at the end of your practice.

Chronic Pain Release

Pain is a useful signal from our nervous system, sending us the message that something needs to change. We can ease chronic pain by changing the patterns of our movement. In these classes, we explore the body’s movements consciously to identify more comfortable ways to hold ourselves. We loosen up the fascia (connective tissue) where our nerves and pain receptors live. We direct the breath in ways that help you let go of your pain.

Getting Up and Getting Down

You might think it’s impossible to practice yoga because you can’t get down to a mat on the floor and, if you do, getting back up off the floor is another hurdle. With advanced age or illness, it can be hard just to get up out of our chairs or onto the toilet without the help of a safety rail or caregiver. This is why Transition Yoga has practices focused on getting up and getting down. We’ll work on core muscle strength and balance to practice safe ways to get up and down independently.

Giving Back to Caregivers

Caregiving is hard work, physically and emotionally. You need to take time for yourself, even if 10 minutes is all you can spare. Let Transition Yoga design a self-care routine that you can do at home, or while you’re in the waiting room at the hospital. If you need energy, an activating practice might be right. You’ll definitely need rest too. Pranayama (yogic breathing), restorative poses, and yoga nidra can all help you get back to caregiving with a renewed sense of vitality.

In the Joints

Knees, hips, shoulders, hands, feet, and spine. Some yoga practices put a strain on the joints and that can actually lead to injuries. At Transition Yoga, the focus is on preventing injury, relieving pain, and building supportive muscle tissue around the joints. If you’ve had surgery, or you’re trying to avoid it, I’ll design a yoga practice that complements the work of your medical care team.

Living and Dying

Even the wisest of us have a natural fear of death, so said Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras 2000 years ago. But everything comes to an end. This is true for us, just as it is for seasons, good books, and hockey games. Transition Yoga classes are about getting comfortable with the natural cycles of living and dying. Through movement, we let go of fear and grief stored in the body. Pranayama (yogic breathing) calms the mind and transforms fear into greater clarity. Meditation helps us stay present to our experiences in a compassionate way. We can then focus on what is most important at the end of life and the freedom that follows.

Memory Booster

Moving the body is one of the best things you can do for your mind. Simply put, physical activity like yoga increases blood flow to your brain. Pranayama (yogic breathing) and meditation are specifically designed to focus the mind, without distraction. After all, memory is where we place our attention. By practicing with Transition Yoga, you’ll exercise the body and mind in a way that gives your brain a boost.

Mood Booster

It can be hard to stay upbeat as we age. Not only are we facing changes to our own well being, but also we find ourselves grieving the loss of friends and loved ones with more frequency. Yoga can help us reconnect with feelings of joy, balance our emotions, reflect on life experiences, and let go. Transition Yoga will work with you to shift the energies of lethargy, through movement, breathwork, and meditation. After a consistent practice, you might be surprised to find seeds of growth.

Neurological Connections

Yoga is the best form of exercise to attune our awareness to the body, breath, and mind. While yoga is not going to eliminate common age-related conditions, such as dementia, Parkinson’s, or stroke, it can help to mitigate some of the symptoms and risk factors. Regular sessions with Transition Yoga can help you stay present, reduce your blood pressure, increase activity levels, strengthen your motor skills, and improve mobility, gait, balance, mood, and sleep.

Worry Less, Live More

When we’re restless, agitated, worried, or anxious, it’s a sign that our nervous system needs a reset. A restorative yoga practice gives your body and mind a chance to wind down so that calm sets in and healing can begin. Get ready to shake out the tension and stretch with ease on your yoga mat surrounded by supports, bolsters, and blankets. At the end of this practice, you will feel rested and balanced. Then your energy can go to the things that matter most.

Yoga Nidra

This is deep relaxation at its best. Yoga nidra supports healing throughout the body, and has been proven in controlled trials to treat conditions such as insomnia, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Nidra is a specific type of yoga practice done while lying down in śavāsana (corpse pose). Every ounce of tension in the body is released. Every system slows down, including the brain, heart, and breath. I love guiding people through yoga nidra because I know it helps you heal and grow.

Young Hearts

You’ll often hear yoga teachers say, “Open up the heart centre,” as you’re encouraged to extend the spine and lift the chest. A heart-centred practice is about giving space to your most vital organ. Transition Yoga can help you activate your circulatory system and regulate your blood pressure, giving your heart the support it needs to stay strong and healthy. With gratitude, we can celebrate every heartbeat that keeps us in motion and alive.

Yoga Instructor

Erika McDougall

Erika began practicing yoga in the 1990s. She’s a certified yoga teacher, with 300+ hours of training from Yoga Therapy Toronto. She specializes in yoga for positive aging and end of life care.

Class Themes