Yoga therapist and owner of Boothbay Yoga Therapy Tonia Blake is now offering yoga therapy and classes in the region, with a focus on healthy aging and older adults. She is accepting individual yoga therapy clients and teaching several group programs beginning in early October, with registration now open through Boothbay-Wiscasset Adult & Community Education.

Moving with Confidence: Chair-Supported Yoga for Balance and Healthy Aging begins Oct. 7 at the Congregational Church in Boothbay Harbor. The five-week series combines joint-friendly seated and standing yoga with straightforward strength and balance exercises, with a chair available throughout for support. Breathing practices, meditation, and relaxation are also included.

Yoga for a More Comfortable Back: Adaptable Practices for Healthy Aging is a five-week small-group yoga therapy series beginning Oct. 6, also at the Congregational Church. Designed for people whose back discomfort may be making it harder to stay active or do the things that matter to them, the series combines joint-friendly yoga and mobility exercises with breathing practices, relaxation, meditation, and brief education about factors such as stress and daily habits. Enrollment is limited to eight participants, who will each have a brief intake call with Blake before the series.

Later in the month, Yoga for the Challenges of the Holiday Season, a two-hour workshop on Oct. 27 at Boothbay Region High School, will explore how yoga can support greater steadiness and ease during a season that can bring not only celebration, but also stress, grief, loneliness, family tensions, and competing demands. Participants will use movement, breathing practices, guided meditation, and yoga teachings to explore topics including boundaries, expectations, and what helps sustain them through the season.

Together, the October offerings reflect the broader approach behind Boothbay Yoga Therapy: yoga can be adapted to meet people where they are and used in different ways depending on their health, needs and interests.

The International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT) describes yoga therapy as the process of empowering individuals to progress toward improved health and well-being through the application of the teachings and practices of yoga. Blake focuses especially on healthy aging and adults who may be navigating not only age-related changes in strength, mobility, and balance, but also more significant health concerns, pain, and stress. Yoga therapy is intended to complement, rather than replace, medical care. Blake works within the scope of yoga therapy and takes into account a client’s health history and any medical care they are receiving when considering how yoga might safely support them. Unlike a general yoga class or private yoga instruction, yoga therapy begins with the individual's health concerns, goals, circumstances and interests, then draws on appropriate yoga practices to support them.

“I teach classes focused on accessibility and working with common aging concerns, but one-on-one yoga therapy is very different from a yoga class,” Blake said. “Instead of starting with poses, it starts with the client. You really listen to what’s troubling them, their goals and what they think might be going on. You also need to understand enough of their health history and the care they may already be receiving as it relates to what we might do together. Then we explore how yoga might help—not just what practices make sense, but what’s a good fit for that person and their life.”

That individualized approach means two people seeking help with the same concern may come away with very different tools. The aim is for clients to better recognize what helps them personally, what doesn’t, and how they can use those tools on their own.

Blake has taught primarily older adults through MaineHealth at St. Andrews for the past six years. Those years have reinforced her interest in healthy aging and, in particular, the resilience she sees in the people she teaches. Many bring decades of experience, curiosity and wisdom to the work—qualities that continue to inspire her. Blake is interested in helping people extend their “healthspan”—not simply how long they live, but how long they can stay active, independent and feel well. But healthy aging, as she sees it, is also about finding greater ease and joy along the way and remaining open to what is still possible, even as health and circumstances change.

The October programs are offered through Boothbay-Wiscasset Adult & Community Education.
Program information and registration links are available at boothbay.yoga/classes.

Tonia Blake offers individual yoga therapy in clients’ homes or at her home studio in West Boothbay Harbor. She also teaches classes and small-group programs in community spaces throughout the area and offers workshops for groups and organizations. More information about her and Boothbay Yoga Therapy is available at boothbay.yoga.