Yoga For Bones & Balance: Half Price 10 Classes, Darwin & Online

Yoga for bones and balance, in Darwin and LIVE online

Balance is a skill. Like any skill, it is kept by practising it and lost by not practising it. Almost nobody practises it on purpose after about the age of forty.

This is a half price pass for twelve classes with people who do. Ten classes at half price, plus two free.

You already know the feeling

See how many of these you recognise. You do not need all of them. Two is enough.

• You put a hand on the wall going downstairs, and you have not mentioned it to anybody.
• You look for something to hold before you step over the side of the bath.
• You have started putting your shoes on sitting down.
• Standing on one leg to get into your trousers is not a thing you attempt any more.
• Uneven ground makes you watch your feet instead of the view.
• Somebody suggested you do something about it, and you were not sure what.

None of that is fixed, and it is not about being flexible

It is about being taught properly, and then practising the thing itself.

Here is what a class actually does. Standing poses are weight-bearing, and at Flametree they are held long enough to matter rather than moved through. Balance poses are practised deliberately, starting at a wall, and the wall stays there for as long as you want it. And getting up and down off the floor, which is the movement most people quietly stop doing in their sixties, happens in every single class.

That is a description of what happens in the room. We make no claims about what it will do for your health, and you should be wary of anybody who does.

What actually happens, class by class

1. Your first class. You turn up in comfortable clothes. Mats, blocks, belts, blankets and chairs are already there. You will be shown where to stand and what to do, and a chair or a wall is offered the moment a pose is out of reach. Nobody will ask you to get on the floor and stay there.
2. By class three. You will know where your own weight actually sits when you stand, which most people have never been told and which changes the feel of everything else.
3. By class six. The one-legged poses stop being alarming. You will still have the wall. You will be using it less.
4. By class ten. Getting off the floor is a movement rather than an event, and you have a few standing poses you can do at home while the kettle boils.

Your pass also covers Gentle Yoga, Restorative Yoga, meditation and Yoga for Backs, all at no extra cost.

Three reasons this suits people over sixty

You are taught, not led. Nothing flows past you. Poses are held long enough that you can be told what to change, and change it.

The wall and the chair are normal here. Using them is not a lesser version of the class. Half the room is using something.

The morning classes are full of people your age. A good number are retired, a good number started in their sixties, and the walk to the coffee shop afterwards is part of it.

What students say

“Flametree Yoga has led me slowly & surely back to strength, stability & confidence. No more back issues, up & down ladders again with ease, better sleep & lowered stress.”
Sharon, in a review on our Google listing

“Throughout all this, my strength is steadily increasing. I can see it and feel it. I used to struggle with poses such as down dog. But now they are steadily building, slowly and gently.”
Miriam, a retired school principal, from her story on the Flametree site

“Three things strike me. A. Intelligent use of props. B. Precise instructions. C. An experienced and highly-trained teacher, who is also ‘of an age’ (ie understanding the changing capabilities of the older student).”
Danny Slater, an online student in Adelaide

What you get for $59.50

• 10 classes at HALF price, plus 2 extra classes FREE, so 12 classes in total
• Use the same pass in the studio, LIVE online, or any mix of the two, so a wet afternoon never costs you a class
• Woolner and Coolalinga / Palmerston studios, plus LIVE online, covering the Greater Darwin region including Casuarina and the northern suburbs
• Gentle Yoga, Restorative Yoga, meditation and Yoga for Backs all included, at no extra cost
• Props and mats supplied free at every studio, so you turn up with nothing but comfortable clothes
• Taught by Chris Lalor, Senior Iyengar Yoga Teacher, and teachers she trained herself, so you are not being taught by somebody who did a short course
• A choice of many class times each week, including plenty of mornings
• Valid for 6 months from your first class, which is plenty of time to build the habit
• Money back guarantee on your first class, so trying it costs you nothing but an hour
• Option to add 5 more half price classes as you add to cart, if you already know you want more

Why the Iyengar way suits this

Props are the whole difference. Blocks, belts, blankets, chairs and the wall are used so the pose is adjusted to your body today, rather than you being adjusted to the pose.

That matters more with age, not less. A standing pose done with a block under the hand is a standing pose, done properly, by somebody who could not otherwise have reached the floor. It is not a compromise.

The teaching is slow and precise, the sequencing is built for real bodies including stiff, older and injured ones, and there is no heat, no music and nobody competing with you.

What changes if you come

Six weeks from now you will either have done this, and know what it feels like to stand on one leg on purpose, or it will be six weeks later and the handrail will still be the handrail.

That is genuinely the whole choice. It costs $59.50 and your first class is refundable.

Questions people ask before they start

Can I try a class before I commit to anything?

Yes. Your first class is free if you are new to Flametree and you have been in the Territory three months or more, and for online newcomers as well. There is nothing you have to arrange. It does help if you let us know you are coming, because then your details are already in the system and you can walk straight into the class instead of filling anything in at the door.

Will I be the oldest person there?

Very unlikely. The morning classes are mostly women in their fifties and sixties, and some are older than that.

I am not steady on my feet. Is that a reason not to come?

It is usually the reason people do come. Tell the teacher before your first class. You will be put where there is a wall, and you will be given a chair for anything done on one leg until you would rather not have it.

I have a hip replacement, a bad knee, high blood pressure. Can I still come?

Often yes. Iyengar yoga is used a great deal with exactly those situations, because poses are adjusted with props. Tell us before you start and we will work with you. If you have had recent surgery, or your doctor has advised against exercise, check with them first.

Can I do it from home?

Yes, on the same pass. Go to the timetable, click the class time you want, and we email you the link to join. Set your camera wide so the teacher can see your whole body, which is what lets her correct you by name during the class.

Is this right for everyone?

No. If you have had surgery in the last six weeks, or you are in acute pain right now, this is not the right starting point. Email us first and we will suggest something better. And if you want a fast, sweaty, music-driven class, this is honestly not that. It is slower, more precise and more individual.

Ready to start

Start with your first twelve classes at half price. Add To Cart above.

Coming to a Darwin studio? Just come along. There is nothing to fill in and nothing to arrange. Joining online? Click the class time you want and we email you the link.

Other options

• See the class timetable
• Get your link to join an online class
• Not a beginner? See the NON-beginner half price deals: regular studio & online $104.50, concession studio & online $84.50, regular online only $74.50, concession online only $59.50
• Want more classes? See the 20 pass at half price, plus 2 free
• Practising at home? See the props packs, with free shipping