Chair Yoga For Pain Relief Working With Fascia

Chair yoga is an accessible form of exercise that offers many of yoga’s healing and restorative benefits. With the support of a chair, it can help improve flexibility, strength, balance, and overall well-being. It is ideal for people of all ages and abilities, including those with physical limitations, mobility challenges, or anyone who prefers not to get on the floor.

Transcript

Come and find a comfortable seat, Sitting forward on your chairs, Feet firmly planted on the floor. Lengthen your spine, Palms facing up, Elbows back. Let's take a nice long deep breath in, Sigh it out. Let's do that again. One more time. Close your eyes if that feels comfortable for you today. And take a moment just to check in with yourself. See if you can let go of the chatter from before, And anything else you may have yet to do today. Giving yourself permission to arrive on your chairs. With your next breath, Feel the belly expand, The ribcage go out to the sides and the chest lift. And then as you exhale, Feel the breath coming from the chest, Down into the ribcage, Down into the belly. Finding this three-part breath, Inhaling, And exhaling. And just take a moment to scan your body. Relaxing the toes, Softening the heels, Breathing into the knees and relaxing the muscles around the knees. Let the hips relax and release. Inhale up the back body to the shoulders and soften the shoulders. Relaxing the arms and the fingers. And along with your breath, Come up the front body to your heart center and breathe. Let the jaw relax and the muscle of your face soften. And then bring your hands together at your heart center and set an intention for your practice today. You're welcome to join me in chanting the sound of Aum to begin. Take a breath in, Exhale, Release your hands, Gently open up your eyes. Come back into this time and space into your room, Into the light. Great. So today we're going to work on fascia. All right, So the fascia are the weave that encompasses right inside your body. And so it holds your bones and muscles together. And when that connective tissue, The weave becomes tight and becomes dehydrated, Right? The nerves that are attached to that then become even tighter. And then that could create pain. So if we kind of just kind of move slowly, Right? So just roll the shoulders back, Right? Just these slow, Gentle movements will help to create a little bit more space and lubrication in our fascia. And let's roll forward with the shoulder again. One more time, Maybe both this time. Right, And then go forward and back. Awesome. Inhale, Let's take those arms out to the sides. Flip the palms up and down, And up, And down, And up, And down. Great. And then put your hands on your hips. Let's lean over to the right. Come over to the front, And then over to the left, And circle back. All right, Moving slowly at first, Not only to lubricate your joints for, You know, Arthritic pain, But also to get the fascia lubricated. Because if we can do that and bring more blood flow, More chi, More prana, Right, To those areas, Our body will be happy, Happier. All right, Come back to center. Place your hands on your thighs or your knees, Belly forward, Chest forward, Shoulders back, Chin lifts. We lift, Lengthen the spine, And we bring the chin into our chest. The inhale brings you forward, And we lift, Lengthen, And the exhale brings your chin into your chest. Again, Inhale forward, Lift, Lengthen. Exhale back. Good. Sit up nice and tall. Inhale, Let's take those arms out. Option to bring them all the way up, Or you can bring them forward. And then exhale, We bring them all the way down. Great. Inhale, Rise up, Lift with the breath. And then the exhale, We bring them down. One more time. Inhale, Arms reach up. And exhale, We bring it down. Okay, Great. We're going to put your left hand on your chest. Yeah, And then as you exhale, You're going to open that arm out to the side. Okay, So same, It's the same hand. Right hand on your chest, And then open the arm out to the side. Good. Again, Take a breath. Inhale, Exhale. Good. Bring that hand back. And this time, You're going to turn your head in the opposite direction. So your head's going to turn to the right, But your arm's going to open to the left. Right, So here we go. Take a breath in. Exhale, Turn your head to the right, Arm opens to the left. Bring it in. And in. One more time. Turn your head, Arm opens. Good. Stay right here. Now, Decide. Do you want your arm lower or higher up to get a nice deep stretch in your chest here? You're going to turn your head to the right. You're going to tilt your head as if you're making a yes movement with your head. And you're going to do this slow. Good. And then you're going to turn your chin up towards the sky. Breathe. And then relax the arm and bring the head back to center. Beautiful. Now, The right hand on your chest. And we're going to start out by just opening the arm out. And see if you can do this with your breath. Breathe out. Inhale. Good. Inhale in, Hold it here. This time, The head's going to turn to the left as the arm opens to the right. So turn and open. And then we bring it back in. Again, Turn and open. And we bring it back in. One more time. Turn and open. And we bring it back in. Perfect. All right. This time, We're going to turn it open and we're going to hold. So turn and open, Hold here. We're going to nod yes, Slowly. Good. And then we're going to tilt the chin up. You're going to feel this in the back of your shoulder, Maybe your neck. You can move your arm forward or back. See if that makes a difference on how deep the stretch is. Good. And then lift your head and bring your arm back down. Option to put your hands on your hips. We're now going to incorporate the lower half of your body. So the left hand comes to your chest, Right? Remember, You turn your head to the right. But now the left foot is going to go out with your arm. All right. Let's just do the hand and the leg first, Right? Out to the side and back. Out to the side and back. Good. This time, We're going to turn the head to the right. So everything opens to the left. We turn to the right and we come back. And again, Out and we turn our head to the right and we come back. One more time. Out. This time, You're going to hold it, Looking to your right. Again, Nod yes. Slowly. And then with the chin down, Lift up the chin. Gazing it with a wall and the ceiling knee. Good. And then lift the head. Bring yourself back. Left hand on your hip. Right hand on your chest. Let's just do the hand and the leg movement first. So arm out to the side. Right knee opens and we bring it back. And out to the side and we bring it back. And out to the side and we bring it back. One more time. Out to the side. Hold. Turn your head to the left. Good. Bring everything back. And let's do this together. So out to the side. Turn your head to the left. Back to center. Out to side. Turn your head to the left. Hold it here. And then nod. Beautiful. Hold the chin in and then lift it up to face where the wall and the ceiling meet. And then lift up your head and come back to the center. Good. So just kind of move like a rag doll. You know, Just kind of. . . This is really good for flexibility and fluidity. Good. Let's take those arms up. Right, Move the wrists. Circle them around. And look, If the arms aren't going up, If you've got some shoulder issues going on, They can be down here. Right? And then we're going to go up higher if that works. And if one arm is working better than the other, Remember, We want the movement to stay there. So even if it's one hand down and one hand lower, That's fine. Now imagine you're reaching for a rope and you're climbing up the rope. Right? You're reaching from side to side. And this can be done right here on center of the chest. Right? Reaching all the way up is difficult right here in the chest. So reach up. Side lean. Side lean. Climb that rope to the top of that mountain. Beautiful. One more time. Each side. Great. And then bring everything down. Take a breath. All right, Now we're going to march. So lift your feet and march. Engage the core here. March. You can always put your hands on your hips or hands on the chair if that gives you a little bit more stabilization. Right? March. Good. Now you're going to bring the feet together and then out. And then back. And then out. And then back. And then out. And then back. Good. Now just the left knee. Out and back. And out and back. And out. And back. And right. And back. And right. And back. And right. And back. And both. And back. And both. And back. And both. And back. And both. And hold. Hands on your thighs. Good. Circle around. Hula hoops here. And let's go the other way. Okay, Great. Walk your feet in together. All right. Take your left foot back. Lift the heel. Pressing the toes down. Heels lifted. And now you're just going to windshield wiper the foot from side to side. Right. This may be really uncomfortable for the toes and the feet and the ankles and the calves. And that's okay. Just be gentle here. All right. Now turn the top of the foot. So the top of the toes are down. You're going to feel the top of your feet here. And if this is intense, Lighten the weight. Stay just like this. Or if you have it and you can go from side to side. Just go from side to side. Opening up the top of the feet. Right. Because the fascia of the feet, The tiny little fascia weaves in there. So we want to open that. Good. And then relax. Now, Some of you, You may have felt that go all the way up into the thigh. Right. That just shows you how connected our fascia really is. Right foot back. Lift the heel. And again, You can stay just like this. And then if you want to windshield wiper, You can windshield wiper from side to side. Open up the feet. Good. And then we're going to top of the foot. Again, Stay just like this. If this is intense for you or if you want to move it from side to side. Go ahead and do that as well. Good. And then relax. Take a breath. All right. Bring your hands to your shoulders. And again, If it's just one, That's fine. Whatever works for your body today. You're going to lean to the right. Take that left elbow up. Come back to center and go the other way. And then come back to center and lean. And then come back to center. And then lean. Good. And then come back to center and relax. Take a breath. Okay. We're going to take our left hand, Put it on the hip. We're going to bring the arm around our head and then place it back on the hip. Now, If lifting the arm all the way up around your head, Because it's difficult for your shoulder, You can make this a halo right in front of the chest. Okay. Or lower. All right. Do what works for your body today. Let's put the right hand on the hip and let's halo around the body back to your hip. Left arm. Halo around and back. Left. Halo. That's your other left. And let's go around and one more time. Halo around. Okay, Good. And then push your hands down and take a breath. All right. We're going to come to stand, But I've done many of the movements that we're going to do standing in a seated posture. So if you need to sit today, You can totally sit. The one other thing I haven't done yet is the warrior two, Which you can do in this 45 degree angle. Maybe it's a 90 degree angle. I don't remember. But whatever this angle is, You can open up your knees and do your warrior two this way if you're choosing to sit. Okay. And then when we do warrior one, You just turn the body this way. Okay. So if you're choosing to sit, Those are the variations of the seated posture. Otherwise, Let's come up to stand. All right. And let's do that ragdoll, Right? So just kind of like bend the knees, Just kind of be this ragdoll. Like you can't control your muscles. You're just kind of like raggedy Ann. Do you guys remember raggedy Ann? Am I dating myself here? This is have no control of your muscles. You're just like this raggedy Ann doll, Right? Okay, Great. And then come to center, Right? That's important to do that. All right. Now, Place your left hand on your chest. All right. Slight opening of the feet. Knees are slightly bent here for foundation. And again, If you have balance issues, Please stand behind the chair so you have the chair there to hold if you need it. All right. We're going to turn the head to the right and open the arm to the left. So it looks like this, Right? You just did this in the seated posture and then you come back. And then again, Open and turn and come back. Good. Open and turn. Hold here. Yes, With your head. Slow. Good. And then turn the chin up. Great. And then lift the head and come back to center. Now, You can also stabilize by putting your hands on your hips as we do this movement. All right. So staying on the same side, We're now going to incorporate the legs. So bring your feet closer together. Your left hand is on your chest, Right? So as the chest, The arm opens, The leg goes out, Right? You can plant the foot if that feels better for you or keep the heel lifted and then bring it back in. So we're working with balance here now, Right? Out and back. And out and back. Perfect. This time, We're going to turn the head, Right? So here we go. Out, Turn your head and then we bring it back, Right? You're strengthening that standing leg. Here we go. Out and back. Engage that glute muscle. Out and back. All right. This time, You're going to go out and you're going to hold. Gaze to your right and hold. Good. And then come on back and release. All right. This time, Right hand on the chest. We're going to turn the head to the left and it's just the arm and the head. So turn your head, Open the arm and back, Right? And again, Open and back. One more time. Open and back. Beautiful. This time, It's the hand and the leg. So let's practice on the right side. So arm out, Right foot out. Good. And come on back. So it's the right hand, Right foot. Out and back. Good. Out and back. All right. This time, The head's going to turn to the left at the same time. So turn left and bring it back. Good. Turn left and bring it back. All right. We're also working on cognitive health as well. Turn left and bring it back. Beautiful. This time, As you turn left, You're going to hold. Engage your core. Breathe. Relax the shoulders and then come on back and we're going to march it out. All right. The ragdoll keeps us fluid, But the marching gives us strength. All right. We build strength. Okay, Great. Separate your feet a little wider than your hips. Put your hands on your hips and we're going to hula hoop. All right. Hula hoop. Good. And we're going to go the other way. Perfect. Okay. Now we're going to do what is called the Marilyn Monroe movement. All right. No need to show your underwear. It's all good. All right. So this one has to do with hiking of your hips. All right. So this is what it looks like. It's like bend in the knee, Right? You're going to hike the hip. I think it's the opposite knee. So the opposite heel lifts, The opposite knee is bent. And the opposite hip is spiked up. And as you can see, My hands are no longer symmetrical, Right? But if I'm here, My hands are even right now. Bend the right knee and lift the right heel and then hike up that left hip. Okay. And we're going to just alternate. All right. Alternate. Really stick the hip out to the side, Right? So why is this movement important? This is moving, This is your pelvis here, Right? So this is moving the pelvis, Right? And so your pelvis goes like this and your spine is right there on the center like so, Right? So when you're doing this movement here, Right? You are actually working the SI joint in the back. And a lot of people suffer from SI joint pain, Right? Especially for postmenopausal women get a lot of joint pain, Right? Like right in here, Right? And so this movement helps with that. All right. So you got the hiking of the hips, Right? Right. Got that, Right? Okay. Good. Now, Put your hands on your shoulders. And again, You can always choose chest. You can always keep them on your hips. All right. So now we're just going to lean, Lift the left elbow up, Right one down. All right. We did this sitting down, Side to side, Right? Side to side. Good. And then come on back to center, Even at your scales, Right? Bend the knees. Now, Lift the left heel and bend the left knee and hike the right hip and lift the right elbow. Good. And we're going to switch, Right? We're giving Marilyn Monroe a little sashay. Here we go. Other way. Good. And other way. And one more time. Other way. And then rest and relax. And then again, Fluid ragdoll movements. Okay, Good. Shake it out. I'm going to turn to the side so you can see me. You're going to put your one hand on the belly and one hand at your low back, Right? This is called a Michael Jackson move. Okay. So slight bend in the knees, Right? And we're going to tilt up and back. And tilt up and back. Keep the knees bent. Tilt up and back. Tilt up and back. Good. Tilt up and back. And tilt up and back, Right? These are all really good for any low back issues that you may be having. Knees are bent, Hands on your hips. We hula hoop again. Okay. And circle the other way, Right? This is all working the fascia of the body. All right. So your hip flexors right here. When you sit, This becomes contracted and tight, Right? And your psoas muscle, Which reaches up into the low ribs all the way down and to the back, Right? That can be a reason for sciatica pain is tight psoas. So this is a really great, Simple, Well, I think it's simple, But really great way to help to bring a little bit more energy into the fascia of that psoas muscle. Okay. So I'm going to go to the side so that you can see me. You're going to bring your hands to your chest, Right? So if you have balance issues, Please make sure you're standing behind a chair so you can put your hands on the chair, Right? You're going to take your right foot back. Heel is lifted. Toes are on the floor, Right? We worked on this. Open the arms and then bring it back. Staying on that same side, Open the arms, Right foot back. Stay with the same side and bring it in. Right foot back, Open the arms and in. Good. Now the other side. Foot back, Open the arms and in and out and in and out and in. Good. March it out. Take a breath. All right. Widen your feet a little wider than your hips. Open the arms out right into your five pointed star. You're going to take your left foot and you're going to turn it. So the toes point towards the left side. The back foot, You're just going to turn a little bit. Okay. Coming into your variation of warrior two. So here, Let's start this again. Feet are parallel, Widen your feet. If you go too wide, You're going to have a problem with balance, Right? If you go too narrow, You're not going to feel the full stretch. So you got to find what works for you. A little wider than your hips. Feet are firmly planted. Okay. Without doing anything with your arms, Put your hands on your hips. Turn your left foot towards the left. I think it is. So that the foot is pointing perpendicular to your back foot. Okay. So if you look down, Your front, Your left heel would be at the arch or the heel of your foot. Now, If you have really tight hips, This may be challenging to do, Right? You may be a little bit more turned and that's okay, Right? With time, We'll work on getting those hips to open a little bit more. But your left toes are pointing out. Okay. If you want, You can pivot the back toes in just a couple of degrees. If that helps to release any kind of discomfort. Okay. Hands are on the hips. Now, Bend the left knee just a little bit. We don't want the knee to go past the ankle, Right? So just a little bend in the knee. You should start to feel a stretch in the inner thighs here. Now, If this feels comfortable for you, You're going to stay just like this or open the arms. So this is your standing warrior two variation. Turn the palms up. Turn the palms down. Turn the palms up. Turn the palms down. Turn the palms to face me. Okay. You're going to take your back arms, Your right arm. You're going to bring it all the way to touch the palm of your left hand. You're gazing at your left hand. You're going to slide the arm across the hand, Across the chest. And turn your gaze to look over to the right hand. Okay. We're going to do this again. Right arm comes to reach for the left. We're going to slide that hand across, Right? This is your bow and arrow that we do when we're sitting down. And turn your head to gaze over to the right hand. One more time. Over, Slide. Beautiful. And then relax the arms. Straighten the leg. And take a breath. Okay. Bend. So we're on the same side. Bend that left knee again. Open the arms. Palms facing me. All right. Right hand goes all the way over to the left. Okay. Bring the hands to your heart. And then put the hands into your left pocket. And then turn and look over your left shoulder. And then come back to the center. Hands and feet back to center. Parallel. All right. Hands on your hips. Pivot your right foot. So now you're doing the other leg. Okay. Back foot can turn in a little bit. Knee bends just to be stacked over your ankle. Okay. Arms open. Relax the shoulders. Palms up. Palms down. Palms up. Palms down. Palms up. Palms to face me. Left arm goes all the way over to the right palm. And we slide. And we look over those left fingertips. And then we turn. And we bring that left hand to meet the right. And we slide. And we open. One more time. Over to the right palm. And we slide. And then we open. Beautiful. Relax the arms. Straighten the leg and take a breath. Bend the knee once again. Open the arms. Palms facing me. Take that left arm to right palm. Breathe. Bend the elbows. Bring the hands to your heart. And then bring the hands to your right hip. And turn and look over that right shoulder. Good. And then come back to center. And pivot the feet. And then come back into your march. Good. Widen those feet once again. Okay. Knees are bent and flexible, Right? Your gentle bounce here. All right. And now find stillness. Now you're going to lean into the right and lean to the left. All right. Lean into the right and lean into the left. So you're just kind of switching weight from side to side. Again, You're not going to lean to the left. This is working on our balance. Okay. Once you have that, You're going to find stillness. Okay. Hands to your hips. Left arm reaches up and over for the halo. And we bring it back to our hip. Again, You can always go right in front, Right? If reaching up is challenging. Arm reaches up and over back to the hip. Right arm reaches up and over back to the hip. Good. Now we're going to bring in the lower body. So as the left knee bends, The right arm goes up and over. And then we bend the right knee and the left arm goes up and over. Bend the left knee. The right arm goes up and over, Right? So you're moving and shifting your weight as you are doing this halo movement with your arms. So good for your shoulders, Your hips. One more time. And then come back to your center. And again, Ragdoll. All right, I'm going to go to the side so I can show you. We're going to do hands to your hips. You're going to take your right leg back, Right? The toes are on the floor. The heel is lifted. Now, If you put more weight in that back leg, You're going to feel a deeper stretch in those toes, Right? And you're going to go from side to side. That's your windshield wiper of the heel from side to side, Right? You're going to feel it. Yes, I see the faces go, Ah, Right? You feel that in the toes, Right? So important. Okay, Let's relax that side. March it out. Okay, Other side. Take the left foot back. Heel is lifted. Toes are on the floor. You don't have to move. You can just stand just like this. And this is perfectly great. If you suffer from plantar fasciitis, You're doing this every day, All right? And then when you can, You windshield wiper from side to side, Right? This will help stretch out muscles of the fascia of the feet, Right? Good. And then bring your foot back and march it out. Okay, One more time for the foot. You're going to take the right foot back. This time, Top of the foot, Right? The toes are down. And again, You find stillness. You hold on to the chair if you need to or a countertop or a wall. And then if it feels okay, You go from side to side. This definitely helps me with all the walking that I did in sneakers. All right. And then come back and we're going to the other side. So left foot back, Top of the toes. And again, Be gentle with yourself. We don't want to do too much here, Right? And then we move from side to side if that feels okay for you. And then we come back and we march it out. Okay, Back, Feet together. I'm going to go to the side so I can show you, Right? Hands to our chest, Right? So we did this before. We just opened up like this, Right? This time, You're going to move your leg back and open and come back together, Right? We're going to alternate. Left leg back, Open the arms and come back together. If you're finding the issue with balance, Stabilize with your hands on your hips, Right? And do it this way. Back and forward and back and forward, Right? If you're using the arms, We're going to add on. You're going to go back and you're going to cross in front. And you're going to go back and you're going to cross in front. Okay, One more time. Back and cross in front and back and cross in front. Beautiful. Take a breath. March it out. Okay, Separate your feet. Left foot, Pivot again into that warrior two stance. Bend that left knee. Put your right hand on your shoulder. Again, You can always choose to do the hip, Okay? Turn the left palm facing me, Okay? So, You're going to slide that hand down and lift the elbow up. And you're going to come back up. So, Watch me. It's not this. Okay, This is just the shoulder moving, All right? Do you see the difference? But this is the whole side body moving. Good, And then come on up. One more time, Right? This is really good for your whole QL and side and hips. And then up, Okay? You can always keep a hand on your thigh and just lift the arm up and bend the elbow, Right? You don't have to go all the way into this position here, Right? And then relax that arm for a second. We're going to add on a little bit here. Okay, Bring the hand back to the shoulder. Choose your variation, Okay? Left knee is bent. This time, You have the option of sliding down, Lifting that right elbow up. Put your hand on your head. You feel that shift? Maybe you put your arm over your head. Very nice, Very nice. And then come on up. Ooh, Good. Pivot that left foot forward and then turn that right foot out. Hands to your hips if you choose or to your shoulders, Right? Bend the front knee and we lift and we come back up. And we lift and we come back up. And we lift and we come back up. Beautiful. Take the right hand, Palm facing out into the inner thigh. You can always choose to put the hand on top of the thigh, Right? And we slide the arm as we lift the left elbow and we slowly come back up. At the lower half, The body doesn't shift. You're staying supported and solid in your feet. One more time. Good. And then come on up, Relax the arm, Take a breath. All right, One more time. So again, Hip or shoulder, Bend the knee, Hand on your thigh or the inner thigh, Palm out. You're going to slide, Hold it here, Put your hand on your head or relax the arm. Reach the arm over. Are you breathing? I hope so. And then rise up. Good. Roll the shoulders and just march it out and shake the arms. Okay, Great. Come back to your chair. Feet firmly planted on the floor, Sitting up nice and tall. Take a breath. Good. Incorporating some of the Qigong we've done in the last few weeks, Right? Putting your hands on the top of your lungs, Opening the arms out. We're going to make the sound. So here we go. Inhale, Open the arms. Bring it back in. Bring it back in. One more time. Bring it back in. Beautiful. We're going to put our hands on our thighs, Right? This is now for our kidneys. So hands on our thighs or our knees, Right? So inhale. Sound is choo, Right? So inhale. Inhale. Inhale. Breathe into the kidneys. Beautiful. Sit up nice and tall. All right, The liver. So this is your right side, Okay? It looks like my left, But it's my right. So your right side, Right? The movement is palms up. You're going to lift up, Turn to your right and open the arms, Right? That's the movement. The sound is shh, Like you're telling someone to be quiet, Right? So inhale up, Turn to the right. Beautiful. Again, Inhale up. One more time. Inhale up. Good. Come back to center. Your energetic heart center right in the middle of your chest, Okay? Inhale. Open the arms, Bring it back in. Again, Eyes are open. Good. Now to your left side, Your spleen pancreas. You lift the arms up and then you exhale and you open the arms and turn to your left, Right? And the sound is ah, Okay? So inhale. Inhale. Inhale. Good. Come back to your center. Last one here. The sound is he, Your central channel. So inhale, Arms up, Arms come down. Beautiful. Inhale up. Palms together at your belly. Now you can close your eyes. Allow the breath to be easy and effortless. Take a moment to notice how you feel. And then with your next breath, Bring your hands together at your heart center, Bowing in gratitude. You're welcome to join me in chanting the sound of Aum to close our practice. Take a breath in. Aum. With my gratitude and the light that shines within my heart to yours, I bow. Namaste. Thanks so much, Everybody.