Welcome to Chair Yoga.
Before we begin today,
Please keep in mind a few things.
I want you to be aware of your body during this practice,
Noticing how the body feels,
Remembering that we want to be present to sensations in our body,
Always practicing loving-kindness to avoid any injury to yourself.
And be appreciative of what your body is feeling and where your body lets you go,
Or where it doesn't let you go.
To begin,
Find a chair that is supportive.
A kitchen chair or desk chair will work fine.
You want to avoid an upholstered chair.
So let's begin sitting comfortably in your chair with your feet touching the ground,
Your knees hip-width apart,
And keep the ankles in line with the knees.
Allow the spine to be long,
Reaching through the crown of the head,
But let the shoulders relax down.
We're going to start with our breath,
And you can close your eyes for this or keep them open.
Begin by noticing your breath.
Feel it move in and feel it move out.
Notice where it is in the body and follow it for a moment.
We're going to go into conscious breathing now.
We're going to slow down the inhale,
Allowing the breath to come in through the nose.
Feel the chest,
The lungs,
And the belly.
Let the breath release even slower,
So letting the belly move back towards the spine,
Letting the breath move up through the lungs and the chest and out through the mouth.
Inhaling through the nose,
Filling the body,
And slowly exhaling,
Releasing,
Letting go,
And letting go.
Do this a couple more times.
Again,
You're filling the chest,
The lungs,
And the belly on the inhale.
On the exhale,
You're letting the belly recede back and letting the breath move right back up out the mouth.
So finish the breath you're on,
And when you feel complete,
Return to your natural breath and open your eyes.
Throughout this practice,
We will connect the breath and the body together with the movement.
Sit tall,
Feel the feet connected to the floor,
Feel the spine long and the shoulders down.
We're going to start with some head movement.
Inhaling,
Exhaling,
Move the head to the right.
Inhaling center,
Exhaling,
Move the head to the left.
And keep going with this.
Let it be a smooth feeling.
Let the breath move with the body,
And just notice how it feels,
What's going on in the neck,
Letting the neck and head stretch a little,
Let all those muscles release.
Head to the right and head to the left,
And then pause back in the center.
Head circles.
For this pose,
We want to take the nose and gently draw circles.
So as we inhale,
We're going to drop the chin towards the chest,
And then exhale,
Let the head circle over to the right,
To the back,
And to the left and back up,
Drawing circles with the nose.
Inhaling as we start,
Exhaling as we go around gently.
And if there's any areas you want to stay a little longer in to release,
Go ahead and do that,
Keeping in mind the breath and the body moving together,
Noticing sensations.
And do one more circle,
And pause in the center.
Notice how the head and neck feel.
Without any judgment,
We're just being aware of body sensations.
Inhale,
Let the chin move towards the chest,
Exhale,
Go to the left,
Drawing circles with the nose gently as you circle all the way around,
Breathing in,
Breathing out,
Noticing tension,
Noticing sensation,
And pausing where you feel you need a little more time in those tight spaces.
And do one more.
Pause again and notice.
And as we take our next inhale,
Take the tips of the shoulders up to the ears,
And then as you exhale,
Circle the shoulders back behind you.
So we're inhaling the tips of the shoulders up,
We're exhaling back,
And just a smooth movement,
A smooth fluid movement as the shoulders open up,
Feel the chest open up.
You can even notice the shoulder blades coming together in the back and then moving down as you circle the tips of the shoulders around,
With a breath in and with a breath out.
And do one more of those.
And when you feel complete,
Again,
Pause,
Notice without any judgment.
And let's take the feet wide.
Knees wide,
Let the feet turn out slightly,
Place your hands on your thighs,
Just above your knees,
Sit up tall.
We're going to do circles with our shoulders and moving.
We'll take a breath in,
As we exhale,
We're going to allow the right shoulder to dip down towards the left knee.
Staying down,
We're going to circle all the way around and come back up.
So this is going to engage the tip of the shoulder,
The shoulder blade,
The whole side of the body.
Inhaling,
We start exhaling,
We let the right shoulder dip down towards the left knee,
We circle all the way around and come back up.
And continue to do this.
Again,
Smooth,
Fluid movement.
Feel it in the side body,
You might feel it in the back.
So noticing the edges,
How far you can move into those edges without creating any pain or discomfort.
And do one more circle and come up to the center and pause.
Moving to the other side,
Inhale,
Exhale the left shoulder,
Dip it over to the right knee,
And then stay low,
Come all the way across to the other knee and come up.
And keep going,
Inhaling,
Exhaling as we fold,
Dipping down the left shoulder to the right knee,
Crossing over to the other knee and coming up.
So continue to do that,
Letting breath and movement flow together,
Feeling the body stretch,
Feeling some release of tension if possible.
And when you're ready,
You can do one more and come up to the center and pause.
Let's take our hands and clasp them together,
Take our clasped hands in front of our nose,
Let our forearms touch if possible,
If not you can let them open up slightly.
And we're going to draw circles with our wrists.
So we'll go ahead and draw circles to the left,
Really moving those wrists,
Getting those joints moving.
And you can breathe with this,
Inhaling and exhaling as you circle around.
Just check in,
Make sure the tips of the shoulders are down.
This is a really good practice for relieving stress in the hands after you've been on the computer all day.
And do one more circle,
Stop in the center,
Notice,
And go to the other side.
Inhaling,
Exhaling,
Circling the wrists,
Getting the fluid in the joints moving.
Do one more circle,
And come back to center,
Allow the hands to come down on the lap.
Place your right hand underneath the right side of the chair or on top,
But go ahead and hold on to the chair.
Taking your left hand,
Reach it up towards the sky,
Take a breath in,
And as you exhale,
Reach the left hand and arm over to the right side.
Feel the side of the body bending to the right,
Taking a breath in,
Filling that right rib cage up.
And as you exhale,
Extend the fingers even further to the right side.
Breathing in,
Breathing out,
And breathing deeply into the left side.
Feel the sit bone and the hip on the left side stay connected to the chair as you extend the arm over to the right.
One more deep breath in,
Filling the side of the body,
And as you exhale,
Bring the arm up,
Over the head,
And down.
Pause,
Notice the right side,
Notice the left side,
Again,
No judgment.
Sitting up tall,
We'll inhale,
Bring the arm,
The right arm straight up towards the sky,
Reach it up high.
Again,
Make that connection of the right hip into the chair.
And as you exhale,
Fold over to the left and bring the hand and the arm over to the left side,
And reach over to the left.
Breathing in to the right side of the body,
And as you exhale is when you allow the body to melt to the side.
So again,
We're going to our edge,
But we're not going into any pain.
Another breath in,
Another breath out,
And extending.
And on your next inhale,
Bring the arm up and release it over and down.
And again,
Noticing both sides,
Finding the breath,
Moving through the center of the body.
Making sure the feet are still making contact,
And that the knees and ankles are in alignment.
Allow the arms to come down and just hang.
Open the palms up,
And as we inhale,
We're going to sweep the arms up overhead,
Reaching up to the sky.
And as we exhale,
We're going to twist to the right.
Twist to the right and place the left hand on the outside of the right thigh.
And the right arm can come to the base of the chair and back,
Or to the top of the chair.
Pause here for a moment,
Find your breath.
So you're breathing in right through that heart center,
Through the crown of the head.
And as you exhale,
We're going to bring the shoulder blades together and melt into the twist.
And you can even imagine or feel the collarbones moving away from each other.
You can take the head and look towards the back of the room or just to the side of the room,
And continue the breath.
As you inhale,
You fill,
You lift.
As you exhale,
You explore the twist.
Again,
Noticing sensation,
Staying away from pain.
And letting the breath flow and ease you into the pose.
Inhaling,
Lifting,
And now exhaling,
Come back to center.
Pause and notice both sides.
And then let the arms come down to the side,
Open the palms out.
Inhale,
Bring the arms up overhead.
Exhale,
Twist to the left,
And again placing the right hand on the outside of the left leg.
The right arm can go to the base of the seat and back,
Or up on top of the chair.
And then pause for a moment and just reestablish your posture.
Feel the spine long.
Take an inhale,
Lift right up through the crown of the head.
And then as you exhale,
Melt into the twist.
Feeling the shoulder blades move together.
Feeling a gentle twist going to your edge but not going into any pain.
And breathe here.
Inhaling,
We fill and lift.
Exhaling,
We explore and melt into the twist.
Another breath in and another breath out.
On the next inhale,
Lift,
Exhale,
Come to the center.
And you might find as we go from side to side,
One side may show up totally different than the other.
And there's nothing wrong with that.
We can observe it,
Become aware of it.
But be in appreciation wherever your body takes you.
Okay,
Sitting tall again,
Letting the shoulders come down the back.
Feel the feet into the floor.
We're going to inhale and bring the right knee up and clasp the knee right below onto the shin with the hands,
Holding the knee up.
And as we exhale,
We're going to give that knee a squeeze right into the chest.
Still keeping the spine long.
And go ahead and release the right foot down.
Inhale,
Left foot comes up,
Clasping right below the knee.
Exhale,
Give that knee a squeeze into the body.
And release that left leg down.
We'll go to the other side again.
Inhale,
Right knee comes in and up.
And exhale,
Give it an extra squeeze.
Feel the spine long and the shoulders move down the back as you squeeze in.
And let the knee come down.
Go to the left side,
Inhale the knee up.
Exhale,
Squeeze that knee into the chest.
And release it down.
We'll do a variation of this.
We'll be using more of our core,
So I want you to focus on the area below the belly button.
Engaging the core,
Engaging that core area,
Not the low back.
And you have the option during this pose to come back to just lifting the knees in and up like we just did.
Otherwise,
We're going to start with the right side.
Inhale,
Bring the knee up.
Exhale,
Squeeze it in.
Inhale,
We're going to straighten the right leg out in front of you.
Flex the foot.
Use those core muscles as you extend that foot out.
Inhale,
Give it a squeeze back into the chest.
Exhale,
Put the foot down.
Starting on the left side,
Lift the knee as you inhale.
Exhale,
Give it a squeeze in.
Inhale,
Straighten the left leg.
Flex the foot.
Use the core.
Sit up tall.
And then bring the knee back in,
Exhaling,
And allow it to come down.
We'll do that on both sides again.
Inhaling the knee up on the right side.
Exhale,
Squeeze it into the body.
Inhale,
Extend the leg out and flex the foot.
Exhale,
Squeeze it into the body and release.
Remember,
Using the core,
Not the low back.
Left knee comes in as you inhale.
Exhale,
Squeeze it in.
Inhale,
Extend the leg out in front of you.
Flex the foot.
Exhale,
Bring the knee back in.
Give it a squeeze and bring it down.
Do that again on your own on both sides.
Remembering that if you find you're using your back muscles,
Then do the previous pose by just bringing the knees in and giving them a squeeze.
Otherwise,
Engage that core,
Pressing the foot away,
Feeling the spine long,
Squeezing the knee in again and down.
And go to the other side.
And when you're complete with that,
Just bring your feet down to the floor and pause and notice.
So with the feet hip-width apart,
Spine long,
We're going to lift the right foot up,
And the right side of the foot is going to rest on the thigh close to the left knee.
The right knee is going to open to the side,
So you'll be creating a triangle with your right leg and right thigh.
You're going to lift up tall.
You can use your right hand to support underneath the right knee.
Your left hand can come on top of your left foot.
Try to keep that foot gently flexed.
Sitting up tall,
Just notice what you notice right now.
You might already feel some sensation in your IT band.
And as we lift up tall,
We're going to inhale,
We're going to exhale,
And we're going to hinge at the hips to whatever point we can go to until we feel that sensation.
So we're going to play with our edge here,
But we're not going to go into pain.
And as we inhale,
We feel,
And as we exhale,
We melt forward if we can,
Remembering to be in appreciation where your body is.
Try to keep the back of the head in line with the spine,
So you have a nice,
Long torso right through the head.
And then melt forward on the exhale if your body allows you to.
Otherwise,
Stay and breathe.
You can breathe down into that area where you have the most sensation,
Or you can imagine taking the breath down there as you inhale.
And as you exhale,
Just imagine that tension softening and releasing.
And slowly come up on an inhale breath,
And let your right foot come down,
Shake it out a little.
And then again,
Placing the feet on the floor hip-width apart,
Making sure the left knee and ankle are in alignment.
And as we move to the left leg,
Just check into the right foot and knee,
Making sure that they're in alignment.
Lift that left foot up,
Place the side of the foot on top of the leg,
Right above the knee,
With a gentle flexed foot.
Let the left knee fall open.
Support that left knee by holding on underneath with your hand and letting the right hand just rest on the foot.
So again,
Finding our posture here,
We want to lift up tall.
And as we exhale,
We're going to hinge at the hips,
Keeping the back of the head and the spine all in alignment.
And we stay there as we inhale and fill.
And as we exhale again,
We melt forward,
Or we might just stay where we're at and work in this position.
You'll know what your sensation and where the tension is in the body,
That you need to rest into that and just breathe.
Noticing the difference between the right and left,
And again,
With no judgment.
So breathe into that tension,
The gripping,
And let the exhale breath possibly allow that gripping to release gently.
We can visualize the breath moving into the tension and visualize the exhale breath releasing.
And then when you're ready,
Inhale and rise up slowly,
Release the leg and shake it out a little.
And notice and pause and feel whatever is coming up in your body.
Let's begin again now with straightening the legs out in front of us and putting our heels on the floor.
Sitting up tall,
Flex the foot,
Both feet.
And as you inhale,
We're going to straighten both feet towards the floor so the toes may touch or may not.
And as we exhale,
We're going to flex both feet at the same time.
Point and flex,
Really moving the ankle,
Feel that movement in the calf and the shin,
Pointing and flexing the feet.
Keep going with this.
Pointing and flexing.
And then on the next flex,
Just pause there,
Let both feet flex,
And then go ahead and circle the feet out into circles.
They're going to move away from each other in circles,
So the ankles are circling out.
You can engage the breath now too,
Inhaling and exhaling,
As you circle the ankles.
And then come to the center and pause and circle both feet in,
Circling the ankles.
And then pause,
Bring the feet back under you,
And again,
Notice how the ankles,
The feet,
And the calves feel.
And then let's take our hands down to our side,
Palms open again.
We're going to inhale,
The hands up,
Come to the top,
And as we exhale,
We're going to open the palms up away from us and push the arms back down and forward fold,
Hinging at the hips,
Come all the way down.
And let the head even come down by the knees wherever you can release,
And let the arms come all the way down along the sides of the legs,
Maybe onto the floor or the feet,
Wherever your body allows you to go.
So we're just really forward folding,
Releasing,
Letting the head go,
Shaking it right and left,
Up and down,
Taking another breath in,
Another breath out.
And as we inhale,
We want to open the palms up,
Press into the feet,
And come all the way up,
Taking the torso up,
Bring the arms up overhead,
And then as you exhale,
Push the arms away and forward fold again,
Hinging at the hips,
Letting the torso come down onto the legs,
Onto the thighs,
Letting the head go,
Letting the arms release down,
And just breathing in there.
You can feel the belly expand as you breathe,
The belly recede as you breathe out.
And then opening the palms up,
Press into the feet and rise up again.
And on our last sun salutation,
Let's bring the arms up overhead again,
Meeting up at the top,
Exhaling,
Pushing the hands away as we hinge at the hips and fold over our legs,
Again,
Letting the head come down,
Letting the arms rest down wherever they will fall,
And take a breath in there.
And let the head relax,
Let the body release a little.
Forward folding is great to calm the mind.
And on your next inhale,
Open the hands up,
Press through the feet,
And come all the way up,
Bringing the arms overhead,
Letting the hands touch above the head,
And then bringing the hands down in front of the body in prayer position,
Right to the sternum,
And then let the palms open up onto your lap.
We are going to do our relaxation pose for a couple minutes,
So you're welcome to sit back in the chair,
Relax,
Let the breath go,
Let the whole body release.
Starting from the forehead and the eyes and the eyebrows,
Allow a softening in there,
Release.
Let the jaw on both sides,
Relax so the teeth are not touching,
And feel the whole face soften.
Let the tips of the shoulders melt away from the ears,
And feel that same melting away all through the arms,
Down into the wrists,
The hands,
And the fingers.
Let that heart center,
The area across the chest,
Just grow heavy and release.
Allow any gripping in the belly to let go,
And really feel the weight of the legs into the chair,
All the way down the weight of the feet into the earth.
And then finding your breath,
As we did in the beginning of class,
Allow the breath now to move up from the earth to the crown of the head,
And then from the crown of the head all the way back down.
And do that one more time,
Inhaling up,
And really letting go and relaxing as the breath moves out of the body.
And take a moment and thank yourself for doing this practice,
And I thank you for doing this practice along with me.
Namaste,
Everyone.
