Why seniors yoga is booming
This training is an incredible professional opportunity for any yoga teacher. Here you can learn why.
Who it's for
Who this training is for
This is a specialty training at intermediate level, not a foundational yoga teacher training. It's a natural next step after your 200 hours, and a powerful addition to a healthcare career.
Yoga teachers
200-hour graduates who want to specialize in older adults and stand out from the crowd.
Healthcare professionals
Physical therapists, nurses and occupational therapists who work with seniors.
Teachers in senior settings
Teachers already leading classes in senior living, rehab or community programs who want more tools.
Older adults
Practitioners who want a safe, well-informed practice of their own, with or without YTT experience.
Do I need the 200-Hour YTT?
No. It's recommended, not required.
Can I start any time?
Yes. It's self-paced, with no time pressure.
Is it fully online?
Yes. Nothing requires in-person presence.
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Dear fellow yoga teacher,
Older adults are the fastest-growing group of yoga students in the world. Already today, one in three people at yoga classes is 50+.
This number is growing because doctors and other health care providers recommend yoga for older adults more and more. Everyone now understands the tremendous benefits of yoga for the physical and mental health, especially of seniors.
Yoga teachers say that yoga is for everyone. But then they teach as if every student in class is a 25-year-old gymnast!
But here's the problem: The vast majority of yoga teachers don't know how to create safe and engaging classes for older adults who typically
are less mobile,
have one or several chronic health conditions,
and simply need a different yoga practice than younger students.
Older adults need better teachers! And you can become that teacher in just 40 hours of training. I created the Movement Wisdom Seniors Chair Yoga Training to help you become the skillful and knowledgeable yoga teacher that the older adults in your area want and deserve.
As a graduate of this course, you'll stand out from the vast majority of yoga teachers. You'll fill new classes, attract well-paying private clients, and find work in new settings.
I hope to see you in the training.
Already today
4 in 10
yoga practitioners in the US are 50 or older.
Source: Yoga Alliance and Yoga Journal, 2016
About
11,500
Americans turn 65 every single day. Globally it's at least 100K.
Source: Administration for Community Living, 2023
Almost
9 in 10
adults over 65 live with at least one chronic condition.
Source: CDC, 2018
Sneak Peek
Take a look behind the scenes of the training
Watch the preview clips below to get a better feel for what awaits you inside the Movement Wisdom Seniors Chair Yoga Training.
Two brand new styles of yoga
Learn two brand new styles of yoga created by lead teacher Jess Rose specifically for teaching older adults. Silver Yin and Silver Restorative yoga cannot be learned anywhere else.
Built for every body
Step-by-step pose modifications, variations, and accessible cues for chair, standing, and floor-based practice, so that every senior in the room, no matter their ability level, can follow along safely.
All common medical conditions covered
Understand the conditions your senior students bring to class. Get the knowledge you need to confidently teach students with osteoporosis, heart disease, arthritis, joint replacements, chronic pain, stroke and more.
East meets West
This course teaches you the most important insights from modern medical science in regard to yoga for seniors, and also subtle-body practices and ancient wisdom from the East. So that you become a teacher who not only keeps students safe but who also inspires them.
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Curriculum
Five styles of yoga for older adults
Learn five different styles of seniors yoga, so you can choose the right practice for every group, every body and every day. Two of the styles have been developed for this course specifically. You can't learn them anywhere else.
+ Meditation
Senior-specific techniques for clarity and calm
+ Breathwork
Pranayama for breathing, blood pressure and anxiety
+ Yoga Nidra
Deep rest that every student can do, whatever their mobility
+ Wall yoga
Standing poses, gentle inversions and long holds, made safe
Osteoporosis
Low bone density is the leading cause of dangerous fractures. Learn to care for the students who live and practice with this silent disease.
Heart disease
Heart disease is the world’s leading cause of death. Learn which practices support cardiovascular health and blood pressure, and which ones must be avoided.
High blood pressure
Breathwork and gentle practices that calm the nervous system.
InflammAging
Chronic low-grade inflammation drives much of what we call aging. Learn what yoga can actually do about it, and what it can’t.
Stroke
Behind the scenes of teaching stroke survivors, plus prevention and rehabilitation.
Chronic pain
Pain is produced by the brain, not just the body. Learn how breath, awareness, and gentle movement give students real control over their experience of it.
Arthritis
Why the old “wear and tear” model is outdated, and how to keep joints moving.
COPD
Impaired breathing affects far more than the lungs. Learn which pranayama practices genuinely help students with limited lung capacity, and which make things worse.
Cancer
Create a room where students in treatment feel normal rather than fragile, with practices that meet them wherever their energy is that day.
Joint replacement
Know what’s safe before and after joint replacement surgery, which poses to leave out, and how to support a student through the months of recovery.
Movement principles
Master the principles that change once bodies age: spinal neutrality, skeletal variation, bandhas, gentle inversions, and safe twisting.
Safe transitions
Getting up and down is where seniors are most at risk. Learn to guide the moves between standing, sitting, and the floor without a single wobble.
Sequencing
Build hatha, gentle flow, Silver Yin, and restorative classes that work for chair students, standing students, and floor students in the same room.
Language and cues
Your words decide whether a student feels capable or feels old. Learn exploratory and step-by-step cueing that keeps everyone in the room included.
Adjusting for seniors
Tailor your teaching to the specific needs, health conditions, vulnerabilities, and desires of older students.
Choosing the right style
Which style suits which student, and which practices to avoid entirely. Read the room and pick the right approach before class starts.
Get seniorized
If you’re not in an older body yet, spend an hour inside one. A prop-based simulation of stiffness, neuropathy, hearing loss, and restricted breath.
Bridging the gap
Combine Western medical science with the Eastern science of yoga, and teach with real confidence in both.
Brain waves
Understand how Yoga Nidra shifts the brain from beta into alpha, theta, and delta states, and why that produces deep rest and healing.
Meaning
Bring yogic wisdom into your teaching so students find contentment, purpose, and joy in this chapter of life.
Teaching advanced seniors
Learn to teach the advanced, aware, and able-bodied seniors who can safely do poses most older adults should avoid.
Business basics
Find your students. Where senior classes actually get booked, how to team up with doctors, and 36 places to advertise.
Lead Trainer
Study with an industry-leading yoga teacher trainer
Jess Rose has spent 15+ years teaching yoga, but it was her mom, Elaine, who introduced her to it, and to the specific power of yoga for older bodies facing real physical limitations. That relationship has shaped Jess's approach ever since: yoga that meets seniors exactly where they are. She's led hundreds of students through seniors yoga worldwide, blending evidence-based science with the kind of teaching that adapts to aging joints, balance concerns, and medical conditions rather than ignoring them.
15+
years teaching yoga
E-RYT 500
Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher, 500-hour level
1M+
students have practiced with Jess online
Registered Yoga School
The Movement Wisdom School of Yoga is a top-rated school on Yoga Alliance.
Study at your own pace
Fully online and self-paced. Fits any schedule. And you never need to rush to class.
Community
Study together with students and graduates from more than 40 countries.
Support
Your student mentors and our team are here for you, every step of the way.
Lifetime access
You'll never lose access to your training materials, which is super helpful as you begin to teach.
All devices
The course travels with you on your phone, tablet or laptop. Super convenient.
What's included
40-hour Yoga Alliance-accredited training
Register your hours as continuing education
250-page training manual
Seniors Yoga Pose Encyclopedia
500+ poses, modifications and mini flows
Starter kit
Intake form and ready-to-teach sequences
Yoga Q&A library
900+ answered questions
Lifetime access and mentorship
Regular live calls with Jess and the team
FAQ
Questions? Answers.
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