Chair yoga is a great way to make yoga accessible to people who have trouble getting up and down from the floor. We can still explore range of motion, work on our balance, strengthen our muscles and ease our minds while using the chair. It’s great for older people, people with special physical requirements, those with unsteady balance, and those of us locked into to desk jobs. A session of chair yoga can be as vigorous or as gentle as you’d like it to be. Yes, you can raise your heart rate using chair yoga!
I also teach what I call chair-assisted yoga, in which we do traditional yoga moves but use the chair to bring the floor a little higher off the ground. This makes poses like planks and down dog less intense in the wrist and shoulder joints.
Chair yoga is one of my favorite forms of yoga. I get feedback from my students after every session about how good it makes their bodies feel, and I have watched them improve their balance so much over time. Many of them are limited from doing other types of physical exercise because of age or physical conditions, so to see them find a new way to get back to enjoying their bodies is very fullfilling for a teacher.
So if you find other forms of yoga intimidating, try chair yoga. I’ve saved a seat for you!
Check out my latest blog posts about chair yoga:
approachableyogawithamy.com 