Show Notes
Join host Jivana Heyman as he talks with yoga therapist and author, Carol Krucoff. Carol shares her journey from her early career as a journalist for the Washington Post to her current role as yoga therapist at the Duke Integrative Medicine Center. Carol shares how she stumbled into teaching older adults through a volunteer gig and what a near-death experience at a marathon finish-line revealed about the true purpose of yoga practice. Together they reflect on the importance of teaching older adults with both care and respect, the difference between what you do and how you do it, and why yoga is so much more than asana.
In the second part of the episode, Jivana chats with co-host Deanna Michalopoulos about what it means to find your voice as a yoga teacher and how the language we use shapes a student’s experience. They also respond to a listener question from Reika Shucart about dualistic and non-dualistic yoga philosophy, breaking down the difference between Patanjali's classical approach and the Vedanta tradition of non-duality, and why both paths ultimately point toward the same truth.
Topics include:
Bridging yoga and Western medicine together and the importance of publishing in medical journals
How intensity, not the poses themselves, is the key variable when teaching older adults
Why yoga injury rates rise sharply in older adults and what that tells us about how they're being taught
Clearing up the confusion around the risks of certain movements and teaching with awareness rather than fear
Carol’s personal shift from a physically intense yoga practice to a more gentle practice
Communicating while teaching in way that avoids condescension and creating hierarchies of practice
Check out:
Accessible Yoga’s upcoming online course, Accessible Yoga for Older Adults: Building a Safe & Effective Practice
Carol’s Relax Into Yoga Seniors Training co-created with Kimberly Carson
Carol’s books: Yoga Sparks, Relax into Yoga for Seniors, Relax into Yoga for Chronic Pain, Healing Yoga for Neck and Shoulder Pain
Jivana’s episode with Reika on her podcast Full Time Yoga Teacher (Ep. 105)
Accessible Yoga's on-demand course, The Essence of Yoga: Making Yoga Philosophy Accessible with Jivana Heyman & Anjali Rao
**Learn more about the Accessible Yoga Mentorship Program and join today! We look forward to seeing you there.**
We Want to Hear from You!
How do you balance self-care and service in your yoga practice and teaching? Submit your answer or any other questions you have for Jivana via Google Form: https://forms.gle/NtijeM82dSgU5jVD7 or leave a voice message here (90 second maximum): https://www.speakpipe.com/AccessibleYoga
Selected responses may be featured in future episodes!
Connect with Carol:
Carol Krucoff, C-IAYT, E-RYT, is a yoga therapist at Duke Integrative Medicine in Durham, NC, and co-director of the Yoga for Seniors professional trainings, which are designed to help yoga instructors safely adapt the practice to older bodies, minds and hearts. Carol has practiced yoga for more than 50 years and studied with master teachers from around the world. She has consulted on several yoga research studies and co-authored numerous articles in medical journals. An award-winning journalist, Carol was founding editor of The Washington Post’s Health Section and has authored several books including “Relax into Yoga for Seniors.”
www.yoga4seniors.com | www.healingmoves.com
Connect with Jivana:
Check out Jivana’s books, Accessible Yoga, Yoga Revolution, and The Teacher’s Guide to Accessible Yoga, and get more information about Accessible Yoga at accessibleyoga.org
www.jivanaheyman.com | @jivanaheyman | facebook.com/jivanaheyman
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