Chair Yoga - Fully Seated - 30-Min Guided Audio Practice

Beginners welcome! We explore gentle, fully seated movements, breath, sensation, and stillness. Recommended props: a sturdy chair on a non-skid surface, a firm throw pillow, and 2 blankets. Intention: May I Offer Tenderness and Compassion to My Nervous System.

Transcript

This class will be fully seated so you'll want to have a sturdy chair on a non-skid surface,

And two blankets,

And a firm throw pillow.

And my name is Alicia,

My pronouns are she and her.

I'm practicing with you today on the native lands of the T'naha,

The Spokane,

And the Shoshumt tribes,

Now known as Spokane,

Washington.

Let's go ahead and get ourselves situated in the chair.

You may like to sit up on a blanket if you have longer legs,

If your legs are shorter,

You might take a folded blanket underneath the feet to raise the floor up to you a bit.

We'll also want to come towards the front of the chair,

So if that's not comfortable for you,

Maybe grab that firm throw pillow and take it behind you to fill up some of that space between your back and the back of the chair,

Give you a little bit of extra support.

And the feet can be flat on the floor and parallel,

Knees roughly over the ankles.

Let's take the skin out and back from each hip so that we can feel the sitting bones more fully in the chair.

From our two bases of support,

Our feet and our seat,

Let's let the spine start to lengthen up from there all the way through the top of the head.

Shoulders can come forward,

Up towards the ears,

And then roll back and down,

Letting the shoulders settle away from the ears.

If you'd like,

You can try a slight tuck of the chin just to bring a little bit of extra length to the back of the neck.

And in a moment,

I will invite the bell to drop us into our centering.

From there,

We will transition to gentle seated movements and we finish up seated in the chair with our integration and relaxation time.

So this is your practice,

Everything I offer invitations.

So option here to leave the eyes open or close them or maybe even you can just soften the gaze down and I'll invite the bell to drop us in.

As you begin to settle yourself in,

Let's take a moment of gratitude for these practices of yoga that originated thousands of years ago in ancient India.

They have been passed down from teacher to student.

Being thankful that these ancient tools have found their way to you through space and time.

Appreciation for the indigenous stewards of the land where you're living and practicing.

And also some gratitude for yourself and each other.

We're all here sharing this same time out of our day.

We've made it back to our practice.

I'd like to invite in the intention.

That offer tenderness and compassion to my nervous system.

And one of the tangible ways that we can start to offer our nervous system.

Some tenderness and compassion is by grounding through bodily sensations.

Let's start by checking in with the feet.

You might give the toes a wiggle,

Move the feet to bring your awareness down.

To that base,

That area of support and grounding.

And just start to become aware of what it feels like to have your feet on the floor.

What kind of textures are you noticing?

There might be pressure or temperature differences.

But these simple acts of bringing your awareness into the body.

Directing it towards the feet.

That can help downshift the nervous system a bit.

And you can also do the same thing with your bum in the chair.

Maybe shifting the pelvis side to side,

Forward and back.

That can help bring your awareness to those areas of the body.

And notice what it feels like to have the sitting bones moving on the chair.

Feeling that support,

Maybe a rootedness grounding beneath you.

And check in with yourself.

How are you feeling today?

Everything is welcome here.

There's no right or wrong.

Can you let go of any judgment?

Even a fraction more.

Be more of a neutral witness to this moment.

If you'd like,

You can take one hand to the belly.

Where we can connect with the sensations and movement of the breath.

Finding softness through the belly,

Heart,

Throat,

Jaw and tongue.

Letting the shoulders continue to soften away from the ears.

As you allow your breath to find its own natural rhythm,

You can let go of trying to control it.

With each inhale,

Can you feel the belly expand into the palm of your hand?

And with each exhale,

Can you feel the belly relax back towards the spine?

Greeting any experience that you're having with that tenderness and compassion.

As you feel ready,

You can open the eyes if they were closed or lift the gaze.

And let's reconnect to the space around us.

If you're ready to start to incorporate some movement,

You can bring the two together.

You can observe your space while also allowing your body to take up some more space.

You can be expanding the body in different directions.

What kind of movement would feel good for you in this moment?

Feel free to be creative and explore.

All of these choices are completely up to you.

And once you feel complete with those movements of your own,

We can meet back at center.

Resetting if you need to with the feet flat on the floor,

Feeling the feet and the sea lengthening your spine up from there.

Let's inhale here.

The next exhale,

Tucking the chin first towards the throat and then rolling the chin any amount towards the chest.

Next inhale,

Rolling the right ear towards the right shoulder.

Exhale,

Chin comes back towards the chest.

Inhale,

Left ear towards the left shoulder.

Find your own rhythm and allow your breath to be your guide.

Let the breath be the leader.

So whatever the pace of your breath right now,

That can guide the pace of your movement.

Let's finish up with one more to each side.

And finish coming back,

Rolling up through center.

Next inhale,

Let's tip the pelvis forward,

Arching the back,

Opening through the chest and belly,

Broadening across the collarbones.

The gaze might come up as is comfortable for your neck.

And exhale,

Rock the pelvis back,

Pressing out through the shoulder blades,

Rounding the back and tucking the chin.

Inhale,

Arching,

Opening forward.

Exhale,

Rounding back.

Find your pace.

Hands can slide toward the hip creases to help open the chest on the inhale.

And fingertips can slide towards the knees on the exhale.

You might stay right here.

Another option would be to take the arms wide on the inhale and wrap them around for a hug on the exhale.

What feels right for you today?

And by following what's feeling right and safe for you,

That's another way that we can offer tenderness and compassion to our nervous system.

Let's do one more round wherever you're at.

And when you're complete,

Let's give the arms a shake out.

And with the arms down at the sides,

Let's find our base beneath the feet in the seat.

Inhale,

Lengthen the spine here in center.

Exhale,

Left hand gets heavy towards the floor,

Leaning towards the left.

Press into the left foot on the inhale to come back to center.

Exhale,

Right hand gets heavy towards the floor.

Press into the right foot,

Back through center.

You can keep your arms at your sides if you would like.

Option to take the top arm,

Fingertips to the shoulder,

Lifting through the elbow.

Or maybe even extending that top arm along the side of the head.

And each of these changes in arm movement is going to change your relationship with gravity.

So just notice how you might need to adjust to keep your base stable.

Wherever you're at,

Let's finish up with one more side bend to each side.

And coming back through center.

Let's bring the hands to press together in front of the heart.

If this doesn't feel good for your wrists,

You can even try putting one hand over top of the other on top of your chest.

Let's inhale here in center.

Exhale,

Twisting one direction.

Inhale,

Center.

Exhale,

Twisting the opposite direction.

Inhale,

Center.

Find your pace.

You can stay here with the hands together or hands on the chest.

Or option to sweep the arms out and up and then take your twist.

Feels best for your shoulders,

Your spine today.

There are a lot of little ways that we can adapt all of these movements to meet ourselves where we're at in any particular moment.

On your next one,

Let's hold the twist.

Front hand can come to the outside of the thigh,

Back hand to the back of the chair,

Letting the shoulders soften down.

And let's take three full breaths on this side.

Inhale,

Unwind to center.

Exhale,

Taking the twist in the other direction,

Settling in and three full breaths on this side.

After your third exhale,

Whenever it comes,

Inhale,

Center.

And exhale the arms by the sides.

Now let's get some movement down into the hips.

Let's hip walk in the chair.

So to do this,

You press into one foot and then you scoot that same side hip.

If you're towards the front of your chair,

You can start by scooting back and then when you get to the back of your chair,

Reverse and come forward.

And let the body,

The rest of the body be loose and get in on the movement as well.

You can add a shoulder roll on each side as you go if that feels good.

And let's finish up when we're still towards the front of the chair.

Let's go ahead and take the legs wide,

Knees still stacking over the ankle.

Also pressing through the inner thighs to bring the knees out or take your stance a little less wide to stack the knees.

Let's inhale long spine here in center.

And then on your exhale hinging forward any amount.

You might stay up here with your hands on your thighs or knees.

Option to come down to forearms or option to walk the hands down the legs towards the feet or the floor.

Let's take a full breath here.

Nodding the head yes,

Shaking the head no.

Let's bring the head and neck back into line with the rest of the spine.

Then press through the feet coming up with a long spine using the press of the feet to help you come back up.

Heel toe the feet back together.

Let's inhale root down through the left foot extend the right leg.

Exhale bring it back two more inhale straighten lengthen exhale bend.

Rooting down through the right foot now.

Exhale extend the left leg.

Inhale,

Excuse me,

Exhale bend inhale straighten exhale bend.

Last one.

Give everything a shake out.

Then let's set up for a little bit of relaxation.

Option if you're not already using it to take your throw pillow behind you,

You can scoot your bum back in the chair.

You can grab your extra blanket.

Option to take your chair to the wall too for some extra support behind your head and neck.

Or you can also take your extra blanket and provide some support that way.

Open your blanket up wide fold it in half the long direction.

And then roll it down.

And you can take that around behind the back of the neck tucking the tails under the armpits.

And with the tools that you have on hand set yourself up in the most comfortable way that you have available to you.

Where you can find the most amount of ease.

Option to close the eyes down or soften the gaze if you choose.

Tune back into the sensations of the feet on the floor.

The bum and the chair to help ground the body as well as the nervous system.

And now if you've added in more blankets or your pillow.

Where are you feeling those props in contact with the body now feel those areas of additional support.

Become aware of the natural rhythm of your breath again.

Resoftening through the belly heart throat jaw and tongue.

Inhale takes your awareness further inward.

Each exhale is the releasing the letting go.

Letting your body relax into and around the supports beneath you.

May I offer tenderness and compassion to my nervous system.

Letting go.

And yourself to ride the waves of the breath.

You're riding the waves of the breath along with also having a strong base of foundation.

As you feel ready.

You can start inviting some small movements back into the body.

You're wiggling the toes and fingers rolling the wrists and ankles.

And then slowly working your way inward towards some larger movements just going with what feels good in this moment.

You can open the eyes if they were closed or lift the gaze.

If you'd like to join me to close out our practice you can take one hand to your heart one hand to your belly.

And this closing is from my teacher and I guess jelly of curvy yoga.

May I greet my body with gentleness.

May I soften when life invites me to harden.

May I listen to my intuition with wisdom.

And trust it with ease.

And may I appreciate my body a little more in this moment.

Just as it is.

And then we can bring the hands together in front of the heart.

Let's take one breath together.

We'll inhale.

And exhale.

Thank you for sharing your time and your practice with me today.

Reviews

Thank you for this wonderful guided practice Alicia.
The support on my neck with the blanket was wonderful! Namaste 🙏

Very relaxing, but also helped me to get the blood flowing after a period of inactivity. Thank you, Alicia!