Chair Yoga Flow

You can do this practice anywhere and all you need is a chair or a seat. You can do this on the couch or sitting at your desk. This is the perfect practice to move your body gently during the day if you need a little flow of energy.

Transcript

Let's practice.

Today's practice will include the use of a chair.

Find a stable and steady chair,

Or you could even do this sitting on the edge of a couch.

Allow this chair to be a stable and steady platform for your practice today.

You can have the chair on top of your yoga mat or maybe even against the wall so that the chair doesn't move or slide around on the floor.

Sit in the chair and scoot your booty to the edge of your seat.

Feet flat on the ground,

Sit up tall.

Start by dropping your chin to your chest and rolling your neck from side to side.

Ear to ear.

You can move your head back and forward.

Move in one direction.

And then when it feels natural,

Move in the other direction.

As you move your neck and your head,

Breathe in and out of your nose.

Lift your chin back up to a neutral position.

Put your hands on your knees.

Start by finding cat pose.

Press into your knees and round your back.

Pull your chin to your chest.

And then pull your heart forward.

Lift your chin up.

Forward,

Lift your chin and your chest up to the ceiling.

Continue to move through some rounds of cat cow in your seat.

Feet flat on the floor.

Start just moving your spine in a way that feels natural and good.

Make your way back to a tall neutral position.

Reach your arms up over your head.

Look up at your fingers and spread your fingers wide.

Take a big full stretch from your hips all the way through your fingers.

Take a big breath in and fold over your legs.

Bring your legs wide and turn your toes slightly out.

And just allow your torso to hang between your legs.

You can put your fingertips on the floor or you could even put your hands on your ankles or rest your forearms on your thighs if you need support.

Allow your spine to lengthen towards the floor.

And shake your head yes and no.

Place your palms on your shins and stretch the crown of your head forward for a halfway lift.

Create a long flat spine.

Take a big breath in and fold back over your legs.

Reach your arms back up over your head.

Mountain pose.

Stretch your fingers to the sky and bow over your legs.

Fold.

Place your palms on your shins,

Lengthen your spine halfway and fold.

One more like that.

Reach your arms up over your head.

Look up at your fingers.

Breathe in.

Bow forward with your exhaled breath.

Fold over your legs.

Arms on your shins halfway lift,

Lengthen the crown of your head forward and fold.

Sit back up in a neutral position.

Scoot to the edge of your chair if you veered back a little bit.

Place your left hand either on the edge of your chair or the back of the chair and put your right hand on your left knee.

Begin to twist to the left and if you can,

Look over your left shoulder.

Take a big breath in to get a little bit taller and exhale to twist a little bit deeper.

Do that again.

Take a big breath in,

Full breath out.

One more big inhale and your juiciest twist yet and slowly come back to the center.

Now put your right hand either on the edge of your chair or behind your seat.

Put your left hand on your right knee and begin to twist your body to the right.

If you re able to,

Look past your right shoulder.

Big breath in and out.

Two more big inhale.

Slow exhale.

One more big inhale for length.

Twist with your exhale breath and then make your way back to the center.

Reach down for your right foot and lift your foot up.

Put your right ankle on top of your left knee.

Relax your right foot and allow your right knee to fall towards the earth to create some sensation in your outer right hip.

Notice the opening that you feel in your hip,

Maybe your outer thigh and just notice where you re feeling sensation in the body.

If it feels good,

You can even close your eyes.

Take a big breath in and out.

Two more inhale.

Exhale.

One more big breath and slowly empty.

Gently put your right foot back on the floor.

Now catch your left foot.

Put your left ankle on your right knee.

Flex your left foot and allow your left knee to just gently energetically drop towards the floor.

If you want more sensation,

You can lean in towards your leg and if you need a little bit less,

You can just back away from your leg.

Take a big breath in and out.

Two more.

One more full inhale and exhale.

And gently release your foot back down to the floor.

We're going to try two different poses out of the chair,

But using the chair for our stability.

The first one is down dog with your chair.

Stand up out of your chair and take a good long step back away from your chair.

Begin to reach forward and put your hands on the edge of your seat.

You might want to take your feet a little bit further back or you might want to step your feet a little bit further closer to the chair depending on how tall and how much space you need.

Allow the crown of your head to drop towards the floor.

Feel the stretch in the backs of your legs and in your long spine.

You can shake your head yes and shake your head no.

Now lift your chest up and step your right foot forward.

Turn your back foot to an angle so that your heel is grounded on the earth.

This is pyramid pose in the chair.

You're using your hands on the edge of the chair to create stability.

Allow the crown of your head to stretch towards the floor.

Take a big breath in and out.

One more like that in through your nose and out of your nose.

Step your right foot back.

Step your left foot forward.

Turn your right foot to an angle so that your heel is grounded.

Allow the crown of your head to reach forward and keep both of your heels firmly pressed into the floor.

Stay focused on your breathing and the length in your body.

Take a big breath in and out.

One more full inhale and slowly exhale.

Stand back up and come back to your seat.

Sit your booty on the edge of your chair with your feet flat on the floor.

Place your right hand over your heart and then your left hand on top of your right hand.

Close your eyes if that's comfortable and take a few deep grounding breaths in through your nose and out of your nose.

Notice the sound and the rhythm of your breath gently flowing in and out.

Both ease and clarity.

Notice how you feel.

You don't have to call it anything or name it,

But just notice.

Now bring your palms to touch at the center of your chest and pull your thumbs to the center of your forehead and gently bow your head towards your heart in honor of you and me and this practice we share.

I bow to you friend and say namaste.

Reviews

Very nice session for anytime you need a break in the day or just getting moving . Offers a nice focus on self.

I am adding this one to a new yoga folder. This was a nice session. Thanks and namaste!

Wonderful! Just the practice I needed and that have hoped to find to get my day started or to revitalise. 🙏🏻💞

Thank you. I have begun my life change for the new year a couple of days early and hope that a short session of chair yoga will be a path back to a more active and healthy life

You had me at "scoot your bootie" 😁. That was a beautiful practice, perfect for the morning. Thank you 🌼

Hello beautiful 🌺🌷🌺🌷🌺Thank you so much for the wonderful chair yoga 🌼🌼my whole body feels connected and my sun ☀️is shining 🗺️have a blessed day 🕉️Namaste