Dr. Nadine Kelly, retired physician and yoga instructor talk about the importance of yoga as exercise and lifestyle for older adults.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-nadine-kelly-5a451946/
https://www.npkhealthintegration.com/
https://health-raisers.captivate.fm/
https://www.kathysconsulting.com/
Katherine Cocks0:02
Hi, my name is Kathy. I've been a geriatric nurse for over 10 years. Many times when I would meet with family members of aged loved ones, they didn't always know what to do. I started this podcast knowledge for caregivers, to assist them with practical suggestions as they assist their own loved ones age with dignity and grace.
Katherine Cocks0:31
Welcome back to the podcast. And today I am interviewing Dr. Nadine Kelly, I'm gonna let her tell you a little bit about her journey and what she does.
Dr. Nadine Kelly0:41
Thank you for having me on the show, Kathy, it's a pleasure to be here my journey. So I started off wanting to be a doctor all my life, I became a doctor, specifically a pathologist, I stopped practicing in 2011, because essentially, I was burning out, I had become depressed. And the path was just not sustainable. For me, medicine had been changing in many ways. And my value system time with my family was compromised. There were many things that were coming to a little bit of a crisis stage, it was time for me to make a new decision. And so I decided that I wanted to do something that would serve my community and be aligned with a yearning I really hadn't realized that I had, which was to be more of a health advocate, rather than to long term participate in the healthcare system, where it was mostly about diagnosing what was wrong, and essentially a sickness model. I wanted to be more of a health advocate. And that was also helped by the fact that I have myself in practicing yoga. When I stopped practicing medicine, I decided to take a yoga instructor class, and then that led to my decision to become a yoga instructor. Furthermore, it really aligned with my values of wanting to advocate for health, I wanted to help people, and it organically became women who don't have your stereotypical yoga bodies, I went out of the studio and I went into the community to find those I really wanted to serve such as in assisted living facilities, as well as health clubs that were catering more to older bodies to make yoga, a practice that was accessible to every body, and any type of body. So I've taught a plethora of physical abilities in the chair in the water, and on the yoga mat, that evolved into my becoming a health coach as well. Because at one of the fitness facilities where I was working, I was able to be part of a program for women, it was a health initiative, and I became their health coach, I loved that work. And that then kind of added to my journey to where I am now, which is still teaching yoga. But it I'm also a health integration coach. And that means that I advocate for women to expand their ideas of health to be more than just a simplistic formula of weight, BMI, calorie intake, how much exercise those things are all important, but they're not the be all end all. So I coach, my lady clients to think about balancing and integrating whole health, their bodies, minds, spirits, mental health, emotional well being, as well as their intellectual health.
Katherine Cocks3:49
I started listening to your podcast when Craig interviewed you on the podcast community, and I was like, Oh, I honestly feel like I don't have that yoga body. But you got me interested when I started listening because I have fibromyalgia. So tell somebody like me, what's a basic definition of yoga?
Dr. Nadine Kelly4:07
So yoga means union, and it's essentially a practice that involves setting an intention. Why are you in the yoga class? What do you want to get out of the yoga class breathing physical movements is which is what we stereotypically think of as yoga handstands and twists and things that look very difficult, but I modified the movements as well as meditation and relaxation. It's a whole practice. It's again about you know, learning more about yourself through a physical practice, and becoming an emotionally intelligent person becoming more responsive rather than reactive. Learning to show yourself compassion, kindness, knowing when to challenge yourself knowing when to pull back Knowing how to take care of yourself appropriately.
Katherine Cocks5:03
When you worked with older people, that means that that age, they were probably for the first time maybe experiencing somebody that was teaching them yoga. How did that go? What is some things that you felt like you were able to bring to especially the older clientele with yoga?
Dr. Nadine Kelly5:18
Well demystification and removing the myth that yoga is only for the thin, flexible in these form fitting yoga clothes again, doing handstands and standing on top of a mountain. It's through a physical practice that we are able on the mat to learn life skills. And so it's really not about exactly what you can do, or doing the yoga pose as it is pictured, what I would do was help these women in have various physical abilities, learn how to, for instance, do a warrior to pose in a chair or in the water appropriate to their bodies, having the practice fit their bodies, or the poses fit their bodies, rather than forcing their bodies into something that is inappropriate. And therefore with the repetition and because it's called a yoga practice, you get to practice showing yourself what you can do, what's not appropriate, so that you can carry that out into your lifestyle. So if I learn that today, warrior to pose is feeling unstable, or unbalanced, I can be in the polls, and I can say, Hmm, what's going on? Maybe it's because I did not get a great night's sleep last night. So maybe I need to back off here and accept that and not force myself or push myself, because I'm looking around the room comparing myself to other people and saying, why can't I do that? The meditation part also allows you to learn about yourself, because then it's an invitation to look at your thought patterns. It's not about sitting on a mountaintop for an hour quietly, in one position. That's a one way meditation can look. But meditation can be a minute here, two minutes here, it can be seated. a yoga teacher that I really admire, say that she's taught yoga classes to her arthritic students, where she's encouraged them to do meditation wherever it feels comfortable for their bodies. So if that means lying down or taking a bath, that's fine. But what you're doing is you're stilling your body so that you can observe your thoughts. And you can do it in a way that you are compassionate again, kind and notice your thoughts without judging yourself, so that you can show up and live the life that you want to live again, not being a reactive person who's living outside of her head in her body, but more of a responsive person. Is this good for me now? Is this not good for me now. So that's really the difference between a yoga practice overall, versus something that say, like getting on a treadmill, or doing a robic exercise, or, or turning a yoga practice into only about the physical?
Katherine Cocks8:22
Do you find that there are different kinds of instructors where some do more of what you're talking about the practice, and then some are just saying, let's learn this skill.
Unknown Speaker8:31
Sure, a yoga class can look very different. I taught a yoga class recently, to a community of people who have chronic restrictive lung diseases, and rare lung diseases, they have trouble because they have some fibrosis in their lungs of different varieties. They have trouble taking long, deep breath. And when you're living in that way, and you're finding it difficult to breathe, you're going to start experiencing anxiety and stress. So my class for them was setting the intention. What do you want? Right now? What do you need right now, you say that to yourself, mentally say, it's, I need to feel relaxed right now. If I need to feel relaxed, how do I get there, set the intention. We went through some breathing exercises, I took them to do some mental relaxation exercises from head to toe, we did a little bit of meditation. And that was the end of the class. Really, hardly any physical movement more about what does this class need. So it could just be breathing. I could be practicing yoga, simply because I like today for me was very, very busy. So there was a point where in the middle of calls, I just stopped, and I took a few breaths, that's practicing yoga, it's part of my life. Here's another way learning about my triggers because of meditation. So if I'm in a situation, and I feel myself getting upset riled up, I can pause and say, what's really going on here? Why am I getting upset. And so then I can take responsibility for whatever is going on or recognize that it's a trigger, and that the person didn't necessarily mean it the way that person is not necessarily trying to hurt me, that's not the intent. They can't possibly know that this is how I'm going to feel what they're saying. But I can take responsibility for that calm myself down. And then instead of having an argument or something unpleasant, I can ask questions, or I can stay quiet. That's yoga, manifesting in your life.
Katherine Cocks10:36
It sounds like it's learning more than just the physical, but the breathing relaxation, the meditation to kind of slow yourself down, so you don't react my clientele. And that's what I try to do. The podcast is both the older person and sometimes the caregiver, who obviously they get very stressed in that situation where I can think as I've listened to you, because like I said, there was so little I knew about yoga before I started listening to your podcast. So if you get all these downloads on your podcast, I'd like I drive a lot. I've been binging you. But your original one, I know you started new, and I'll let you tell us at the end of the show, but it really got me thinking because I have some anxiety. So I went to this counselor biofeedback. And the big thing was breathing, breathing. And so when I listen to you, like, it sounds like a lot of what she was talking about, with the breathing, and I know I need to do it, but I keep forgetting, I thought, well, if I breathe and do something physical at the same time, it kind of helped me I can maybe take those breathing times a little more often during the day, because sometimes like you, I just get busy. And it's like, I don't need to breathe. And then by the end the day, I'm all anxious, and I can't go to sleep, I can see that if somebody was just starting out and was interested in yoga. I know there's some online stuff I know people are doing zoom staff, what would you recommend, especially if they don't have a yoga body?
Dr. Nadine Kelly11:54
I always recommend looking for a teacher and taking your time to do that, because it's a relationship. And you do want to find the right fit hole makes sense for you? What setting what time? Are you challenged enough? Is it too hard? I have a student who's been with me for a long time. And she found me this way. This was when I was teaching at a specific facility many years ago, and I had walked into this class on a Saturday as a substitute teacher. My style was very different than the person who was fair. And again, not to disparage anyone, we just have different styles. And so my style was always to walk around the room and check on people, how's this feeling to you do you need to do it this way? Oh, it looks like you're overdoing it a little bit, maybe you might try this, maybe lower your arms a little bit. You don't have to raise them so high, or maybe adjust your stance. So you feel a little bit more balanced. You don't have to strain and go so far or stand so wide, like whatever it was. So I'd like to walk around the room and offer modifications to fit the body. This student shared with me that she had almost given up on yoga because it was too acrobatic for her. She was an older woman. And so when I walked in and did that, it's the reason why she stayed with yoga. And that's why she's been my student for so long. You've got to find the right fit.
Katherine Cocks13:21
I definitely understand what you're saying. Because when I developed Fibromyalgia 30 years ago, everybody's like, got exercise, exercise. And back then all they had was like low impact aerobics and they instructors, they were like drill sergeant, I didn't go back, I was embarrassed. Yeah, you know, because I don't have that body, I can see you know, listening to us, I can see where people are going, you got to find that person that you're comfortable with. If you're not athletic, or limber, I didn't even know there was such a thing as chair yoga, because I know, most of my older people, they get on the floor, they're not getting back. And they can do it in their chair. And the stretching and breathing is definitely something strengthening.
Dr. Nadine Kelly13:57
Because it's it's important to me that my students avoid falling. You know, that's part of my training again. So I can bring in some of that knowledge that I gained in my past life in my previous career. And, again, I'm not diagnosing or doing anything like that, because I've stopped practicing medicine, but there's a level of understanding there that I can bring to the table. It's really important to me to be able to offer modifications so that it is an appropriate practice. Some of my students have a harder time standing up in and out of a chair. So I encourage stay in the chair. Here's a good example. What I will do a lot of times is to improve balance and to maintain that lower body strength and stability. We do a lot of sit ups and downs. So standing up out of the chair and having a seat and controlling it with the breathing, engaging the correct muscles using the right form. There's a particular student of mine who gets a little bit fatigued, she can't do so many. So maybe she'll try a couple. And then she gets tired. So then she can stay seated. And I'll tell her, okay, so not do it isometrically, meaning you're not going to actually get up, but squeeze the muscles in your lower body. So if you're going to stand up, so for her that's appropriate, she's challenged, she's gaining what she needs to gain. And she's also increasing a deeper level of understanding of what engaging in her life looks like, if that makes sense. Yeah, lifestyle as
Katherine Cocks15:33
it is about lifestyle and yoga seems to be what you bring is a piece of that. Is there anything else as far as yoga that I haven't asked that you would like to share about?
Dr. Nadine Kelly15:44
Yeah, I think one of the things that I have really learned in my experience with yoga all this time, has also been how much agency Yoga also teachers, I have a choice and responsibility, personal responsibility for myself, going back to the agency, choosing how I want to be in the world and not letting the world act upon me. I consider it to be a very powerful, mental, emotional, physical, social practice, it's led me to really love the work that I do, I still teach I have these clients that I teach, again, women who are navigating change in their lives to integrate Whole Health for themselves, again, physical, mental, emotional, social, intellectual, but I also still teach my Zoom yoga classes now, to make it even more convenient for clients who are navigating the pandemic who can't necessarily drive as easily, and also just kind of want to stay in the comfort of their own home. To do these zoom yoga practices with me, I have two classes that are in the chair, and one class that's on the floor.
Katherine Cocks16:57
How has it been adapting to zoom, I do beginning to see a lot more zoom being done with yoga,
Dr. Nadine Kelly17:04
but don't have large classes, because I still like to be able to see everybody and give guidance. And it's been good because for a lot of my students, technology hasn't been fun. This is good for the brain too, because part of yoga is also Mind Body coordination. There are these mental, emotional benefits to two stepping into the unknown, that you get to practice on in your chair on the mat in the water in yoga, unfortunately, I don't teach my water classes anymore. But I still adapt to a lot of what I learned. And we'll do things like imagine ourselves in the water and so that we can imagine some resistance and slow down our movement in practice the flow with the breath and all that.
Katherine Cocks17:47
Thank you very much. So tell us how you can be reached what your past podcasts and your new podcast is.
Unknown Speaker17:55
Thank you. So my previous podcast, which has over 180 episodes, and that includes something that I used to record called the mindful minutes. So just a minute or so of whatever relaxation, some breath work that was called the yogi MD podcast, because my previous business was called Yogi MD for a decade. And now I've shifted to NPK health integration, because again, it's about the yoga but it's also about meeting my clients who are mostly women, where they are and helping them navigate change and their ideas of health to make sure that they are living the healthiest lives in the moment that they wish to lead. So my website is N as a Nancy P as in Peter K as in King, health integration.com. And the accompanying podcast for that is health raisers.
Katherine Cocks 18:55
I think what you are doing is not just saying we're just gonna do yoga, when I listened to your podcast, what I liked was, you interviewed some people that were dealing with cancer or dealing with pain or dealing with just reality of life, and how to be the healthiest you that you can be. I always felt guilty like for like way I just know if you exercise, you wouldn't have this and it's like, I can't help that I have fibromyalgia
Unknown Speaker19:20
you find what's appropriate for your body. Right? Absolutely. When I was in the assisted living facilities, a lot of wheelchair bound people, you know, can they get up and down? No, but they can do arm circles. We can take care of their flexibility and mobility in their joints, which is very important. At the top of the hour. You mentioned that you've been doing a lot of driving and so you're feeling aches in your neck. Well, I do a lot of posture work. Sitting up in a chair tall in proper Mountain Pose is not easy. It sounds simple. It's not. It's putting your head in the correct position. It's putting your shoulders over your head hips, it's lengthening your spine. It's about relaxing the muscles in your face and shoulders. It's about balancing on your sits bones, aligning your knees over your ankles, pointing your feet forward that's involves muscle activation and proper alignment as well. So even sitting tall in a chair and breathing in that position, from your bottom of your abdomen, all the way up to your collarbones in and out through your nose and down in the opposite direction. That is something we spent a lot of time doing. It's a very useful way to be in the world to reduce pain.
Katherine Cocks20:40
That's great information. Thank you so much, Nadine for coming on and educating us about all the facets of yoga and health integration. I hope you have enjoyed this podcast. If you have found it helpful, then share it. If you wish to contact me for consulting services. You can reach me at www.kathysconsulting.com and Kathy's is spelled K A Thys. Remember, our content is meant for informational purposes only, and not to replace the advice of healthcare professionals.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai