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AMESBURY - Ask Dorothy Perrin how she feels about her new yoga class, and she’ll tell you she’s never felt better.
“My muscles come to life,’’ said Perrin. “My lungs are better, a lot better. And my heart rate is better. I hop out of bed.’’
Perrin, 69, of Amesbury, has attended the class since it began in June. “I practice at home almost every day. Plus housework,’’ she said.
The Amesbury Council on Aging and the Maplewood Care and Rehabilitation Center have teamed up to offer a weekly yoga class for men and women. The class is taught by Whitney Willman, a registered yoga teacher through Yoga Alliance.
Yoga is “more attainable for more people, and you can modify it to suit anyone, whether you’re 5 or 85,’’ said Willman.
Thursday mornings at 8:30, residents gather at the Amesbury Senior Center to participate in a sequence of yoga poses performed on a chair.
“I always assumed yoga was done lying on the floor,’’ said activities coordinator Carolyn Levesque of Amesbury. “I never knew it to be done like this.’’
Levesque, 70, had been watching the yoga class for weeks before giving it a try. She said that everyone she observed seemed more relaxed after taking the class, making her want to join in.
The practice begins with setting an intention or making a dedication. The class focuses on breathing by synchronizing each movement with an inhale and exhale. From there, Willman brings participants into a series of twists.
The class includes classic yoga techniques such as shoulder circles, seated cat and cow poses, and warrior poses. The class concludes with a period of relaxation, allowing participants to revisit the intention that they made at the beginning of the class.
“It’s very relaxing,’’ said Amesbury resident Ida Phillips, 90. “I almost fell asleep one time.’’
Annmary Connor, director of the Amesbury Council on Aging, said that the class has been very well-received.
“We’ve gone from three people to 10. People we’ve never seen before walk through the door,’’ said Connor.
Connor said she expects the numbers to continue to increase in the fall. She added that she hopes the yoga class will help to inform citizens of all that the senior center has to offer.
“It’s not just a place you go to play bingo. It’s a lot more than that,’’ she said.
JoAnn Peatfield, director of rehabilitation at Maplewood Care and Rehabilitation Center, said the program is a building block for the construction of the new senior center that will be completed in the spring.
It will include a wellness room and offer a number of health-related programs and classes daily.
The new senior center will be located at the Merrimack Regional Transit Authority Transportation Center in Amesbury.
Willman said that gyms and yoga studios can be very intimidating for the elderly. The senior center prides itself on being a comfortable and welcoming setting.
Willman teaches a gentle form of yoga but expands by introducing something new each week.
“We’ll test the waters, and if it doesn’t float, we’ll take it out,’’ she said.
The “Senior Lift’’ show will air an episode on yoga in the fall on the Amesbury Community Television cable channel. Both Connor and Peatfield hope the show will demonstrate how universal yoga is and how it can appeal to the elderly.
Willman said the class is eager to learn and wants to get the most out of the experience. Participants requested that Willman write up an at-home yoga practice so that they can exercise on their own.
“At first everyone was skeptical,’’ said Willman. “Now they laugh. They’re happy. The more oxygen you get, the better you feel.’’
