Skip to main content
  • Brand Journalism Logo

  • Health news stories
  • Language
    Español
  • Search

    Search form in Header

    • Journalism Logo
    • BCBSMA Home
    • In Depth
      • Mental health support
      • Medicare ABCDs
      • Facts about COVID
      • Why we vaccinate kids
      • Choosing COVID vaccination
      • Diva Docs
      • Health Equity
    • Wellness
      • Financial Well-being
      • Fitness
      • Healthy Eating
      • Social Wellbeing
      • All Wellness
    • Innovation
      • Emerging Trends
      • Health Quality & Affordability
      • Policy
      • Technology
      • All Innovation
    • Illness & Conditions
      • Children’s Health
      • Chronic Conditions
      • Patient Stories
      • Preventive Care
      • Substance Use
      • All Illness And Conditions
    • Aging
      • Care at Home
      • End-of-Life Planning
      • Healthy Aging
      • All Aging
    • All Stories
    • About Us

Oct 2, 2023

Namaste! Welcoming Boston seniors to yoga

Chris Villani

Free parks programs offer a sense of community as well as fitness options

Chris Villani | News Service of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts

Free fitness programs in Boston are offering older adults a welcome way to re-energize and reconnect.

“People bring friends, sisters, husbands and wives to class,” said Ivor Edmonds, a chair yoga instructor with the Boston Park Fitness Program which is sponsored by the not-for-profit health plan Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts.

One of many offerings in the program, which reaches every neighborhood in Boston, the chair yoga class was created specifically to benefit older folks as well as people who are obese or have mobility issues. The class, which incorporates most traditional yoga poses, has helped provide a fitness outlet for seniors and, perhaps more importantly during a time of isolation, a sense of community.

“The seniors will call their friends when they are not in class and say ‘oh so and so is supposed to be here,’” Edmonds said. “They jump out and call their friends and bring them in.”

Senior Yoga
Boston Parks Fitness Program's options for older adults include chair yoga, seen here in a 2019 class at a Chinatown senior center. The program is resuming in-person offerings in 2021.


Studies have found exercise is not only important for physical health, but can help improve emotional health, build social connections and lower stress levels.

“Exercise is proven to be a mood booster,” said Jennifer Widener, who manages the Boston Park Fitness Program, “and it decreases symptoms of anxiety and depression.”

The vast majority of people who take his chair yoga class have never practiced before, Edmonds said.

“I think people come in generally scared to do this type of movement and stretching, but after the first class they generally like it,” Edmonds said.

While Zoom classes are offered for people who might want to work out in their homes, Edmonds says he enjoys in-person instruction too.

“The seniors I work with treat me, not quite like a son, but they have an emotional connection to me," he said. "They are excited to come back.”

Widener said she has also gotten to know a number of the older adults who take Edmonds’ chair yoga classes or other classes.

“The community has been fantastic,” Widener said. “It grows and people look out for one another.”

Did you find this article informative?

All Coverage content can be reprinted for free.

Read more here.

tags: Chair yoga stretching senior health older adult healthy living

A NEWS SERVICE OF

BCBSMA logo

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts is an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. ® Registered Marks of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

® ´, TM, SM Registered, Service, and Trade Marks are the property of their respective owners. © 2019 Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Inc..,

and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts HMO Blue, Inc.

Subscribe to our newsletter

Footer menu

  • Privacy & Security
  • Terms of Use