Yoga classes for residents of the Albe in Argelès-sur-Mer

It was the Argelèsian Léo-Lagrange multi-activity association (Aallma) that had the idea of ​​offering these courses. Affiliated to the Léo-Lagrange federation, the Aallma offers its members courses for all ages, in the sports, cultural or associative field. Its 150 members can choose to practice one or more activities, including pilates, muscle strengthening, stretching, yoga, sophrology, English, IT, hypnotherapy, etc.

But apart from these very traditional activities, the Aallma offers each year to a specialized structure to benefit from its program L’aurore. Michel Bonzoms, president of Aallma explains: “Dawn is a light that lights up a new day, but for us, dawn means Activity universality respect objective meeting exchanges. Each year, a structure benefits from this program. For us, the cost is approximately €1,500 for the year, which represents 10% of our budget. For the structure, it’s completely free”.

That Friday, Raymonde Soto and Céline Ravail, medico-psychological assistants and supervisors within the Albe, accompanied twelve beneficiaries to their yoga class. They look back on the beginning of this collaboration: “When yoga presented itself to us, we immediately accepted, because we had felt that our beneficiaries needed relaxation. They have anxieties and need us to reassure them all the time. As that as a supervisor, to do an activity, you have to have a state patent, so for us, it was a godsend”.

Started last October, this new activity has borne fruit: “Our 25 beneficiaries, who attend the course in turn, are demanding. This activity has become soothing and reassuring, observes Raymonde, and I use the breath that I learned here”. For Celine, “some are very tense, very stiff physically. The teacher is fantastic, she has a relaxing voice and she was able to adapt to them”.

Educator specializing in pilates and yoga, Najaite Inehaddou confides in this new experience: “With them, there are a lot of exchanges and no filter. There was an evolution: the 1st time, they did not speak to me! Physically, they have more mobility and there is a lot of improvement in breath “. Raymonde and Céline conclude: “They always come out with the banana.” When asked what they think of this course, they all respond in chorus, with a big smile: “It does us good, it relaxes, it calms”. Residents of Albe will return to their yoga classes at the start of the next school year.