Asana, pranayama, mudra and mandalais the first yoga class for the guests of the Rsa 'San Francesco' in Recco.

The facility's educational service has organised a series of yoga lessons for the elderly, also suitable for non-self-sufficient guests: combating sedentariness and making the elderly's everyday life rich in new stimuli from up-to-date physical-rehabilitative activities are the concepts that have guided educator Dr Chantal Errico, a qualified yoga teacher, in devising this educational project.

Under his guidance, the guests of the old people's home approached this ancient discipline, known for its physical and mental benefits, for the first time: they started with 'conscious breathing', cautious and thoughtful breathing exercises, suitable for the elderly, and then moved on to awakening the joints, in particular those of the hands and feet, with small games of opening and closing the fingers. Then there were postural exercises to benefit the spine.

"The next lessons will also focus on inner vibrations. I will have the elders rehearse the vocalisations that are usually uttered for each chakra and show them a real Tibetan bell,' said educator Chantal Errico.

"Our educational service is in step with the times: yoga, like all the physical-rehabilitative activities that are offered to our guests, can enable the elderly to feel comfortable in their bodies again, to move with more awareness in space, and to gain self-confidence, in order to better cope with the physical changes due to age," said facility director Francesca Chiarlo.