ABYOGA workshop
How ABYOGA connects yoga to everyday movement
Reaching for a pot in the garden takes a little balance, a shift of weight and room to move. In the ABYOGA longevity workshop at Advanced Balance in San Pedro, an everyday goal like gardening helps explain what a yoga pose can add to movement practice.
A place to start
Dr. Gerard Donayre opens the workshop by asking people what they want to keep doing as they get older. One person might think of a trip they want to take. Another might picture tending their garden. The answer gives the movement a purpose.
The workshop uses a standing position from yoga, often called Mountain Pose, as one starting point. Gerard calls it the mountain base. It gives the group a moment to notice how their weight rests through their feet before they look at what changes when they reach. A chair or another stable support can be part of the setup, depending on the person.
From standing still to reaching
Back in the garden, a pot directly in front of you is a different reach from one off to the side. You might turn, shift your weight or take a step to get closer. The movement science part of the workshop makes those differences easier to notice by looking at how people reach and turn in several directions.
Physical therapy brings the focus back to the person doing the movement. For one participant, the useful detail might be how steady they feel during a smaller reach. For someone else, it might be the difference a nearby support makes. The workshop uses those observations to discuss what fits each person’s starting point.
What the movement feels like
Reaching for a cup in a quiet room may feel different from reaching across a garden bed where the ground is uneven. Pain neuroscience is part of ABYOGA’s conversation about that experience. Gerard’s workshop uses familiar tasks to talk about how the setting, what we pay attention to and what we’ve experienced before can shape how a movement feels.
If a reach feels uncomfortable, the person’s description gives the conversation somewhere to start. They might notice that one direction feels easier or that they feel more at ease with support nearby. Those details bring the discussion back to the goal they came in with, whether that’s looking after the garden or doing something else they enjoy.
The AB Yoga page explains what a session can include. The workshops page has information on finding out what’s coming up at the San Pedro practice.