Chair yoga full#

Lakshmi Voelker (given her first name by Muktananda, the founder of Siddha Yoga) created an approach named 'Chair Yoga' in 1982, on seeing that one of her pupils, aged only in her thirties, was unable to do floor poses because of arthritis. Origins Īlice Christensen's 'Easy Does It Yoga', first described in 1979, uses exercises in chairs, on the floor, or on beds, and in later editions also in swimming pools. The image wrongly suggests that yoga is suitable for wealthy, white women from the upper classes of society, and possibly less suitable for other groups of people.

Chair yoga full#

The image of yoga marketed in the Western world is of a young, slim, fit female body, implying full health and physical ability. Around the 1960s, modern yoga was transformed further by three global changes: Westerners were able to travel to India, and Indians were able to migrate to the West people in the West became disillusioned with organised religion, and started to look for alternatives and yoga became an uncontroversial form of exercise suitable for mass consumption. In the early 20th century, it was transformed through Western influences and a process of innovation in India to become an exercise practice.

Its goal, the isolation of the self or kaivalya, was replaced by the modern goals of good health, reduced stress, and physical flexibility. Learn about customized yoga therapy consultations at UH Connor Integrative Health Network.Yoga is an ancient meditational spiritual practice from India. The practice of yoga can offer many health benefits, such as reduced stress, increased fitness and management of chronic conditions. “Afterward, it feels so good to have stretched.” Related Links “They get to leave their desks, to move and really breathe,” she says. Easa teaches, the room is darkened a bit, and soothing soft music enhances the feeling of being away from it all. Many people spend their working days seated, and on the phone. It’s a new tool and a new way to experience yoga.The chair gives you stability, building your strength while keeping you safe.You can hold a pose longer, thanks to the comfort a chair provides.You will be able to move more freely because the chair gives you more room to extend your body.You don’t have to be able to get on the floor – the chair brings the “floor” up to you.Here are five ways a chair can change or rev up your yoga practice: 5 Ways Chair Yoga Can Rev Up Your Practice For example, if you haven’t achieved a backbend yet in your yoga practice, you can move toward it by bending your back over the seat of a chair. The great thing about chair yoga is that anyone can do it, even with conditions such as arthritis or knee injuries, she says.Īnyone who does chair yoga will be amazed at the range of movement they experience – you can bend more deeply with the additional balance you get from standing next to or holding the back of a chair, Ms. You can also do cow and cat poses easily in a chair, or even seated pigeon pose and spinal twists, she says. Some of the basic yoga moves you can do are stretches for the neck and shoulder. First, just sit and breathe deeply for a few minutes to become present and calm, Ms.

If you want to try chair yoga at home, YouTube videos can provide guidance. It’s a very good idea to use a chair that does not have wheels, though if it does, you can often keep the chair from moving by putting it onto a yoga mat, she says. “You can make chair yoga as easy or as hard as you like.” “Anything you can do on a mat, you can adapt to a chair,” Ms. It’s best to use a chair with no arms, as it allows for more of a variety of poses, says Sheila Easa, yoga teacher and program coordinator for University Hospitals Connor Integrative Health Network. You might stand behind the chair, sit on it, or hold on to its legs, to mention just a few possibilities, depending on the pose.Ĭhair yoga can be an option at nearly every yoga class, Ms. Googling 'advanced chair yoga' poses will show you just how far you can go.īoth types show that until you’ve spent some time doing chair yoga, you have no idea how satisfying it can be – not to mention how quickly it reduces stress and helps your balance.Ĭhair yoga means doing yoga with the help of a chair – for balance, perhaps – or using a chair as a prop, to do more advanced or deeper poses than you otherwise could. The second is that chair yoga can take you further along the path to highly-advanced poses. The first – probably the best-known - is that it can be a easy, non-intimidating way to get into yoga if you are de-conditioned or have some physical limitations, or to maintain your regular yoga practice after an injury or surgery.