The benefits of chair yoga

A chair is the perfect accompaniment for your yoga practice! And the great thing is that as the vast majority of us own one or have one we can use there’s no need to spend any more money on unnecessary yoga kit. YAY!

A chair makes yoga more accessible to those who cannot, or find it difficult to, get on and off the floor. It also can be enjoyed by any yogi practitioner for any reason including just if they fancy it! It brings the floor up to meet you wherever you are. In particular, yogis with knee or hip issues find a chair supportive in their practice to reduce the amount of weight bearing through these joints.

Chair yoga can be done purely on a chair or you can incorporate standing postures too either with or without the use of the chair. There are so many variations of poses that can be done on and off the chair, but with the chair you have the ability to choose which one works for you and how much weight bearing you would like to do, or not do. You can also include additional props including bricks under the feet (especially helpful for those of us who have shorter legs!) and using a bolster either on our lap to drape our upper body over or to cuddle up to whilst the bolster sits in front of us on another chair.

I have taught mixed classes where some students are on their mat on the floor whilst others choose to remain seated in their chair. Although this requires extra planning, it is a great way to ensure everyone is welcome and included in a yoga class. With time and support, those who struggle can build enough strength and confidence to head down to the floor if they want to. Or, build up an arson of poses they can use on the chair.

Additionally, chair yoga is perfect for wellbeing at work! A lot of us work at a desk sitting in a chair all day. Learning some gentle movements and stretches to re-awaken the body ~ in particular the spine ~ can really reduce back pain, stress and tension in the body, have a screen break and give the mind a break too! I’ve been running a 30 minute online session with my work colleagues once week for over a year now and can tell you that my colleagues have reported better wellbeing and a reduction in back pain.

There are more and more free videos on YouTube of chair yoga that you can follow along with or learn from. There are also more and more yoga teachers offering chair yoga classes in person. Hopefully in time I will be able to run an online and in person chair yoga class myself, until then if you want a recommendation send me a message.

So go on, give chair yoga a go!