Chair Yoga & Meditation

An easy 20 minute Chair yoga practice including a grounding meditation, the energizing sun breath, chair sun salutations, side bends, a seated figure four stretch, and a body-focused meditation. The intention of this is to have a gentle moving meditation practice, allowing you to tune inwards and gently stretch your body.

Transcript

Hi there.

Today we're going to be doing a very simple chair yoga routine.

So to get started,

I welcome you to find a chair that is very comfortable to sit in for the next 10 to 20 minutes.

I highly recommend it has a back to it so that you can lean back on it.

And it might be beneficial to have armrests too,

But that's not needed.

So take a moment to find the chair of your choice.

You're welcome to pause if you need to.

And we're essentially going to be doing all of the movement here in this chair.

So find a straight spine,

Allow your feet to rest completely on the ground.

And just take a moment to notice where you are right now in your body.

Maybe noticing if you're leaning to one side or the other,

Even slightly,

Leaning more on your left side or your right.

Try to find balance in both hemispheres of your body.

Try to find an equal weight in both feet,

Both hands that might be resting on your knees or wherever they're resting.

And if you haven't already,

I welcome you to close your eyes or soften your gaze to allow yourself to tune into your body even further.

Notice if your shoulders are crunching up towards your ears,

Allow yourself to find relaxation there.

Allow them to fall.

Allow your chest to be broad,

Your spine to be straight.

Feel the power of the seated pose.

Notice your breath without changing it.

Just noticing the movement of the air in and out of your body.

Maybe even allowing yourself to feel gratitude for that breath,

For what sustains you each and every moment of each and every day.

And then notice what you're feeling in your body,

The aches and pains that might exist,

Perhaps in your knees,

In your hips,

In your back,

Or wherever it is today.

But instead of noticing this with judgment,

As we so often do,

See if you can notice it just as a witness,

An impartial witness.

Seeing where these aches and pains exist,

Maybe on your next inhale,

Imagine the breath filling those spaces with renewed energy.

Maybe you want to start in one place like your knees.

On your inhale,

Imagine that breath filling that space with the renewed energy.

And then on your exhale,

Imagine the tension,

The aches,

The pains to be released with the exhale.

Do that one more time.

Inhale the air to that place that's feeling achy.

And exhale the tension,

The pain,

Allowing the next inhale to fill it with renewed energy.

And then repeat that a few more times,

Your own breath,

Your own timing,

To each different place that you're feeling discomfort today.

And sometimes judgment just naturally creeps back in.

Notice if it does.

That's okay.

But just allow that judgment to be released with the next exhale,

Replacing that judging space with the inhale with renewed,

Loving kindness.

We'll take a few more moments here,

Just breathing into the body,

Into those spaces that need a little love.

And then find an exhale fully out the mouth here,

Maybe fluttering your eyelids open if they were closed and allowing your hands to drop by your sides.

On your next inhale,

Bring your hands up to the sky,

Stretching through your fingertips,

Really stretching far,

As high as your arms can go.

And then on your exhale,

Drop them down next to your body once more.

This is called sunshine breath.

So inhale,

Reach your arms up to the sky,

Stretching through your fingertips,

Maybe looking towards your fingertips.

And then exhale,

Drop your hands down by your sides.

Inhale,

Reach up,

Stretch,

Gaze,

Maybe praise the sun,

Praise the space.

And then exhale,

Drop.

Tune inwards.

Inhale again,

Reach up through your fingertips.

Exhale,

Drop.

And then on the next inhale,

We're going to do something a little bit different afterwards.

So inhale,

Reach up to the sky.

And then exhale.

This time,

Let's forward fold over the body.

So allow your torso to rest on your thighs if that's possible,

Or as far down as you can go,

Whatever feels good for you,

Allowing your hands to meet where your feet are,

Meet the ground,

Or wherever they land.

No judgments here.

And then on your next inhale,

Sit back up into a seated position with your hands on your knees,

Your spine straight,

Your shoulders relaxed and away from the ears.

And then exhaling,

Fold once more over your body,

Melting over the lower half of your body.

Inhale,

Reach up all the way up to the sky,

Stretching through your fingertips.

Exhale,

Gently fold as slow as you need to,

Melting over the lower half of your body.

Inhale,

Lift up into a seated position,

Hands on your knees,

Spine straight,

Shoulders relaxed.

And exhale,

Fold over your body.

One more time.

Inhale,

Reach up,

Up through your fingertips.

Exhale,

Fold over your body,

Melting over your thighs.

Inhale,

Sitting up straight,

Hands on knees,

Shoulders relaxed.

And then exhale,

Fold here.

You're welcome to stay here for a brief moment if that is comfortable for you.

If it is not comfortable for you,

Find a position that is.

And then the next movement we're going to do is a side stretch.

So find a neutral seated position.

When you're ready,

Take your time.

And then placing your left hand either on the left armrest or behind you in the seat,

Reach your right hand up towards the sky and then your fingertips reach towards the left side of your room.

So stretching through that left side body,

You lean slightly into the stretch.

Your bicep should be near the ears and maybe ear,

Right ear,

And maybe even behind it a little bit.

Really broadening out that chest.

And notice if you lose the weight in your left hand,

Find strength there.

Stretching through those fingertips,

We stay for five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Swing the arm down and then do the same thing on the other side.

So placing your right hand down on the armrest or behind you in the seat,

Reaching your left hand up towards the sky and over towards the right side of the room.

Your bicep behind the ear,

Right next to it,

Keeping that strength in the right arm.

Breathing into that side body.

Taking good care of your body.

If anything doesn't feel right,

You never need to follow my instruction.

And stay for five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Find a neutral seated position once more.

Next we'll do a stretch in the legs.

So in that neutral position,

Bring your right ankle to cross over your left thigh.

This is a seated figure four stretch.

Now if this isn't comfortable,

See what does feel good so that you can get the same stretch.

Here I know that sometimes knees can be a little sensitive.

It might be better to just cross your right foot over the left foot on the ground and then lean that way.

Whatever feels right for you to get into a little bit of a juicy stretch here.

If you are in figure four,

Place your right hand gently on your right knee just to allow there to be a little bit of pressure there.

And then close your eyes or soften your gaze in whatever position you're in and notice where the stretch feels best in your body.

Sometimes stretches can have both challenge and goodness within them and a lot of times we like to focus on the challenge.

Maybe this time place the focus on the goodness.

Where does it feel best?

Where is the release most needed?

Sometimes the challenge and the goodness both exist in the same place at the same time.

If that is true for you,

Notice that as well.

And then bring that rejuvenating breath into those spaces that need the love here in the stretch.

Inhaling,

Imagining fresh energy taking over the older staler energy.

And then exhaling out that stale energy that's no longer serving you.

And notice if you're leaning forward a little bit.

See if you can find a straight spine.

See if you can place a little bit more pressure into that right hand to push the left leg down a little bit more towards the ground.

And then finish out this current breath cycle releasing the last of the stale energy that exists in the stretch.

And place your right foot back on the ground and find a neutral seated position.

Find an exhale here,

Releasing all tension.

And then inhale your left foot,

Left ankle,

Up over your right thigh or the alternative pose that works best for you.

Notice how the side may differ from the other side.

Maybe you're leaning forward a little bit.

There's a little bit more tension here.

That doesn't call for judgment.

It's just another thing to notice today.

Finding balance in all limbs in your body,

Finding a neutral straight spine,

Closing your eyes or softening your gaze.

Tune into your body.

Tune in to where the stretch feels the best.

Noticing if you start to lean,

Find that straight spine again,

And we'll stay for another breath cycle before we end today's session with a brief meditation.

On your next exhale,

Drop your left foot to the ground.

Finding a straight neutral spine once more,

Shoulders relaxed,

Forearms can be on your thighs.

I welcome you to close your eyes or soften your gaze again.

And just take a moment to find gratitude for everything your body has taken you through to this point in your life.

There have absolutely been challenges,

Stresses,

Things that don't feel so good,

But maybe take a moment to place your focus on the things that do feel good.

The times where you felt most strong,

The times where you felt your body has served you in its best way,

The times where you were the most healthy.

What does it feel like to think about those times?

And perhaps judgment again starts to creep in.

As it always does for all of us.

That's okay,

But just kindly tell it that it's not serving you right now.

That right now you want to focus on the goodness.

That you want to focus on what it feels like to remember those times where your body has felt its most capable.

And really tune into what that feels like.

Breathing in,

Allowing that feeling to expand,

To cover the entirety of your body.

Exhaling the thoughts,

The judgments,

The things that aren't serving you.

Inhaling those memories,

Those sensations,

Those feelings.

That power that exists within you.

And exhaling,

Releasing.

One more time,

Inhale deeply.

Filling up with that feeling,

Those sensations.

And release on the exhale what is not serving you today.

Go ahead and flutter your eyelids open if they were closed.

Bring a little bit of movement into your body,

Maybe tapping your feet.

Sometimes it feels really good to just tap your heels on the ground.

Maybe bringing some movements into your fingers.

And then on your next inhale,

Reach your arms up to the sky for the last time in today's practice.

Bring your hands together and allow your thumbs to meet where your third eye chakra is,

Right in the middle of your forehead.

Thank you so very much for tuning into your body and following the intuition of your body's guidance.

Bring your hands to your chest.

Thank you so very much for spending this time with me today.

And then if it's in your practice,

You can go ahead and bow with me now.

Namaste,

My friend.

Thank you so very much.

Reviews

Thank you. A grounding practice with clear guidance and good pacing. Appreciated the nudges towards 'goodness' 🪷