Mindful Movement - Chair Yoga

Mindfulness Northwest's new integrated mindful yoga series created by Karen Schwisow, E-RYT.

Transcript

Welcome to this mindful movement through chair yoga sequence.

Designed to follow along with a mindful movement through gentle yoga sequence in a classroom setting.

So that all of us with all different kinds of bodies and abilities can follow along together.

And although that's the original design,

This works as a standalone practice in and of itself.

I encourage you as we begin to really tune in and listen to the messages that your body gives.

Remembering that this practice is not about some ideal form or movement.

There's no goal in achieving something physically.

The mind may have a tendency to think,

Am I doing this right?

And if that arises for you,

It's an opportunity to shift that question a little bit.

Am I in this present moment feeling sensation somewhere in this body?

A sense of befriending this body as it is right now and paying attention to it in a kind and nurturing way.

And so we begin.

Maybe closing the eyes if that feels comfortable or lowering the gaze softly to the floor.

It can be useful to have a table or a chair nearby.

And then settling in.

Feeling a sense of this body as a whole.

So a general feeling tone right now.

Bringing the attention to places where the body is supported from underneath.

Perhaps feeling feet on the floor.

Legs,

Bottom in the chair.

Where the arms,

Where the hands are resting.

What's the breath like right now?

Smooth,

Choppy,

Deep or shallow.

As best we can,

Not judging what we find as good or bad,

Wanted or unwanted.

And opening to what's here right now,

This breath.

Maybe something moves in the body as you breathe.

The chest,

Ribs.

Drawing our attention inward to the little subtle sensations that we might normally skip over or ignore.

It wouldn't be unusual for the mind to wander away from the body and the breath.

No big deal.

When you note that,

Kindly but firmly bring the attention back to the body.

In this case,

The sensation of breathing,

The feeling in this body of breathing.

And bringing the attention down to the pelvis,

To the seat,

And pressing down a little bit into the chair.

You might feel the spine lengthen up a little bit when you do that.

This gentle pressing down of pelvis into the chair,

Where the spine grows a bit longer.

You might have a sense of the heart lifting up out of the belly.

And then the next time you breathe in,

Lifting the arms all the way up overhead.

If that's appropriate for you.

If there's something in your shoulders or somewhere else that says,

That's not helpful.

Maybe lifting arms just halfway or keeping elbows bent.

Finding a way that feels right for you.

And that might include simply visualizing this on an exhalation whenever that arrives for you.

Letting the arms float back down.

Continuing with this at your own pace,

Your own breath timing,

Bringing arms up overhead,

Maybe in one inhale,

Maybe in a couple of breath cycles.

And then the arms float back down.

Aware of your arms moving through space.

Aware as well of the breath.

And then the next time that the arms are overhead,

You might keep them there.

Stretching up,

That sense of pressing the bottom down into the chair and the reaching,

Lengthening up for a few breath cycles here.

You might even reach a little higher through one arm,

One side and then the other.

Exploring what it feels like to have a big stretch.

And on an exhale,

Slowly coming down.

And when you get there,

Back to your starting position,

A pause,

A chance to see what little reverberations might be in the body from that movement.

A sense of two feet and the breath.

Then we'll begin rolling the shoulders.

Making big circles with your shoulders.

Finding your full range of motion here.

Drawing them as far back towards the spine as they can go,

As far down towards the floor,

As far forward towards each other and way up towards the ears.

Maybe some places that feel a little stiff or fluid,

Places that feel there's some tension there that maybe you weren't aware of before.

And then reversing directions.

And if one particular area that feels good,

You just kind of want to hang out there for a little bit,

Moving in different ways,

Inviting a little circulation.

Feel free.

And at some point,

Returning back to the starting position,

Pausing to see the effect of what you just did.

And then on the next inhale,

Lifting the right arm all the way up overhead and the left hand might hold on to the seat of the chair on your left side or maybe the arm of the chair.

Really lengthening up.

Now press the bottom into the chair to find that long spine and you might draw the belly in towards the spine just a little bit here as we side bend towards the left,

A little side bending here.

And on an inhale,

You might let go of the side bend,

Straightening up a little and on the exhale,

Exploring,

Deepening this side bend.

Are you paying attention,

Making sure that your back is in full agreement with whatever you're doing here?

Maybe that elbow of your bottom arm bends a bit as you come into this side stretch.

And then on an inhalation,

Whenever that arrives for you,

Bring the left arm up and let the right arm then come down,

Arm of the chair,

Seat of the chair.

Draw the low belly in as you side bend now the other way.

Maybe coming out a bit when you breathe in and deepening a bit when you breathe out.

And then when you're ready,

Coming back to both arms down,

This tall long spine and a pause.

What's here now?

We'll move into what can be a balancing posture.

I'll give a few options here.

You can come to standing,

Holding on to the back of the chair,

Or if that's not appropriate for you,

You might just scooch a little to the front edge of your chair,

Bringing the arms out to the side.

And then whether you're seated or whether you're standing,

The suggestion is to unweight the right leg,

The right foot.

You might bend the knee a little bit so that the ball of the right foot is resting on the floor and the heel is lifted.

And here you can play almost like a kickstand,

Lifting and lowering the ball of the foot so that it leaves the floor and then comes back down to the floor.

Exploration of balance here.

And if it feels okay,

You could lift the right leg with the knee bent.

Maybe the knee comes all the way hip height,

Maybe somewhere in between.

All the little adjustments that the body makes to find balance or regain balance.

And each in our own time,

We'll find the right foot coming firmly back down to the floor and the arms releasing.

See if you can really tune into that moment when the effort lets go.

The stability of two feet and the breath.

Let's hear now.

When you feel ready,

Playing on the other side.

Unweighting the left foot,

The left leg,

Knee bends a bit,

Ball of the foot can stay on the floor,

Lifting just the ball of the foot up and down.

Or you might lift the knee a little higher,

Arms can come out to the side or overhead,

Wherever it feels naturally,

You can play with that.

It's a modification of something called tree pose.

You think about the branches of a tree.

They move,

They sway,

Trees bend,

Sometimes they fall over.

Allowing yourself,

Oh if perfectionist's mind arises,

Some kind of striving mind,

Maybe it's possible to gently smile at that.

Sometimes that serves you,

Perhaps.

In this moment,

Not so much.

Sense of curiosity here.

What does it feel like as we explore balance and then returning to the stability of two feet?

Really sensing into that moment of letting go of the effort.

Looking for the echoes of what we just did that might still be lingering in the body,

The breath.

Maybe a tension even somewhere in the face,

The tongue that you didn't realize was there.

An opportunity to soften.

If you're standing,

Coming back to a seated position in the chair.

Look down at the feet.

You might bring them about hip width apart.

Nice and firmly planted on the floor,

Pressing the seat down into the chair.

So once again,

This long,

Tall spine arises.

Palms with the hands on the thighs.

And then keeping this tall,

Long spine,

A neutral spine,

You don't want to start rounding through the spine here.

That would be a sense of bringing the belly and the heart closer together.

Instead you want to keep lengthening the heart up out of the belly and the option to hinge at the hips and start to bend forward a bit.

You can keep your hands on your thighs for support and move here in whatever way feels best for you.

So you could come to bring the belly or the chest all the way onto the legs,

In which case it's okay to let the head hang and the hands might come all the way to ankles or floor.

But if that's not appropriate for your body,

Then keep a neutral spine,

A long spine.

Finding your edge here,

The place that feels appropriate for you.

And a breath or two if your belly is all the way on your thighs.

That's kind of interesting,

Not much room for it to expand as you breathe.

So now what moves in the body as you breathe here?

And if this is a posture that doesn't serve you,

The yoga of not doing the pose,

Staying open and present to what's here,

I'll give a suggestion.

Anytime a posture isn't right for you,

You might simply move the palms of the hands firmly up and down along the thighs and just feel that physical sensation.

Just as valid as any other posture.

And if you are in this forward fold,

When you're ready,

Hands on thighs to come up with that neutral spine,

Slowly in your own time,

All the way back to vertical.

And a breath here.

And now the suggestion to maybe scooch up forward a little on your chair to give you more room,

See what's appropriate,

What's useful for you.

And then you can bend the elbows and bring the arms up,

Kind of in cactus or eye surrender pose.

On an inhale,

Draw the elbows back.

It's a little arcing of the spine,

A heart lifting a little towards the ceiling.

And on an exhalation,

Going the other way with the spine,

And elbows draw towards each other in front of you.

On the inhale,

The elbows draw back,

Shoulder blades move towards the spine,

The heart lifts.

And then try on an exhalation to go the other way.

Now elbows move towards each other,

The spine rounds a bit.

You can even release your chin in towards the chest.

And back and forth you go at your own pace,

Your breath timing.

And I encourage you here to see how much movement you can bring into the shoulder blade,

Thoracic region of your spine,

Not so much in the low back.

You can also draw the belly in towards the spine using your abdominal muscles to support the low back as you move.

And then coming back to a neutral spine,

Letting the arms,

The hands rest back in the starting position.

And now the suggestion to lift the right foot off of the floor,

You can straighten the right leg and rest the heel on the floor,

Or you can keep this right leg hovering just above the floor.

Knowing that you can move in and out of that,

Resting the heel down,

Lifting the leg up as you see fit.

And the option as well to now lift the left arm overhead,

Either with the elbow bent or with it straight up overhead.

And then letting the right foot come down,

Left arm come down,

Trying that on the other side.

Lifting the left leg,

Either straightening it and resting the heel on the floor or lifting left leg into the air,

And the option to include the right arm.

Perhaps just for a breath and then the foot,

The leg,

The arm come down and alternating sides.

Right leg,

Left arm,

Left leg,

Right arm.

Staying with a rhythmic movement or perhaps holding for a few breaths on each side.

Moving now into a resting posture,

If you have a chair nearby,

You can bring it in front of you with it facing away.

And then rest your elbows on the top of the back of the chair and turn your hands towards you,

Leaning forward,

Hinging at the hips of the long spine here to rest your forehead on the heels of your hands.

A table could work as well,

Elbows rest on the tabletop,

Hinging at the hips so the spine stays long,

Forehead resting on the heels of the hands.

If you don't have a chair or a table and it's okay in your body,

You could bring your elbows all the way down to your own thighs and rest in that way.

Or again,

If none of these work for you,

Pressing firmly the palms of the hands along the length of the thighs and you might just rhythmically move the hands along the thighs in coordination with your breath,

Exhaling in one direction,

Inhaling in the other.

Remembering that our intention with this practice is to be embodied in this present moment,

To feel through the body what's here now in this moment.

One more breath here and on an inhalation,

Coming back to vertical.

In this next segment,

There is an option to come to standing facing the back of the chair,

A hand on the chair for support or balance.

And then to lift the right leg and bring it back behind you and then lowering that to the floor and bringing the left leg back behind you and lowering it to the floor.

If you want,

You can alternate arms so that when the right leg goes back,

The left arm lifts overhead and vice versa.

If you're staying seated in the chair,

It's similar to what we did just a moment ago,

Straightening alternate legs,

Lifting perhaps the leg away from the floor and the alternate arm away from the floor.

Choosing the option that's appropriate for you.

And then coming back to the starting position when you've evened yourself out on both sides.

See if you can really tune into that moment when the effort releases.

If you're standing,

Just feeling yourself standing with two feet on the floor and then coming in the going of the breath.

And then returning back to the chair if you've been standing and coming to sit on the front edge of it.

The suggestion now to take the feet and the legs wide apart,

Kind of walking them heel-toe or lifting them.

As wide apart as feels appropriate,

Your toes can point out maybe 45 degrees.

Press the bottom into the chair to find a long spine here.

If it feels okay,

You might hinge a little at the hips,

Coming a little bit forward,

Careful not to round the spine.

Keep lengthening the heart up out of the belly.

Just exploring what this feels like.

Where is the sensation now?

And then when you're ready,

Spine is vertical,

Walking the legs,

The knees back together.

A breath here.

And now another posture that has a couple of different options.

Option one is to slowly draw the knee up towards the chest.

Maybe it's possible to hang on to pant leg,

Thigh,

Knee,

Shin.

What's important here is that you keep lengthening the heart up out of the belly,

Long spine,

Not rounding through the spine here,

As you hug the knee in towards the chest.

And you might move it a little out away from the midline of the body and then back in towards the midline of the body.

And you might be exploring what this feels like in the hip as you move the knee from side to side.

Another option is to keep both feet on the floor,

To keep your left foot where it is,

And then to walk your right leg out as far as it's willing to go today.

Keeping the knee bent or maybe off to the side of the chair.

You can scoot your bottom over to the right,

So that perhaps that gives a little more freedom to this right leg,

Maybe it even straightens a bit.

Exploring what it feels like through this right inner thigh,

Right hip,

Range of motion here.

So be creative,

Moving this right leg in whatever way feels right to you.

And then eventually bringing it back to center,

Taking a breath there,

Perhaps adjusting yourself on the chair.

And then exploring what happens with the left leg,

Either drawing the knee in towards the chest or walking that left foot,

Left leg off to the left side.

Exploring range of motion and sensation in this left hip,

Left thigh.

And at some point bringing it back to center,

The stability of two feet and the breath.

Now straightening the right leg so that the heel rests on the floor,

Or you can lift it away from the floor.

You might alternate lifting and lowering.

And then in a place where it feels accessible,

Point and flex the foot.

Maybe rotate the ankle,

Wiggle the toes.

You might look at this foot moving your foot as it is right now in this moment.

And then in your own time bringing the right foot to rest on the floor and trying that on the left side.

Exploring what it feels like to make circles perhaps with this ankle,

Pointing,

Flexing,

Wiggling toes.

And then coming back to starting position and breath there.

In this next posture you can try coming,

Sitting on the front of the chair.

Hands might be on the seat of the chair,

On the arms of the chair.

And the suggestion here is to have your feet firmly underneath you.

And you can play with lifting yourself up out of the chair so that the bottom is hovering just above the chair and then you let yourself back down.

Standing up slightly out of the chair and sitting back down.

Using the arms of the chair for support if that's helpful.

Or if neither of these are appropriate for you,

You might play simply with moving the arms up on the inhalation and back down on the exhalation.

Remembering again,

Our only goal here is to explore movement and sensation in this body.

As a way to be in this moment here now,

Open,

Receptive,

Curious.

And then returning back to starting position.

Pause to feel whatever reverberations might be lingering in the body,

The mind,

The breath from what you just did.

The right hand can gently press the right knee or thigh away towards the floor.

You feel sensation here in this right hip,

Right buttock.

Another option may be to simply cross the right leg on top of the left,

The right knee.

Seeing what sensation is here.

And if it's appropriate for you,

Hinging at the hips to lean forward just a little bit,

Remembering to keep lifting heart out of belly.

And when you're ready,

Bringing both feet back to starting position.

And changing sides.

Either left ankle to the top of the right knee or thigh,

Gently using your left hand to press the left thigh towards the floor just a bit.

Or crossing knees.

Lifting heart out of belly so there's a long,

Tall spine and maybe hinging at the hips.

And then returning to starting position.

On the next inhalation,

Pressing the pelvis down into the chair.

Lifting heart out of belly.

And then the next time that you exhale,

Bringing a gentle twist into the spine,

Turning the heart towards the right.

Your right hand might rest on the seat somewhere or if it's accessible,

Even right elbow on the back of the chair.

Left hand can come to the right thigh.

On an inhale,

Release the twist a little bit.

See if you can grow the spine a tiny bit taller.

And on the exhalation,

Inviting this twist into the heart,

Shoulder blade,

Thoracic region of the spine,

Draw the belly in towards the spine to stabilize the low back.

Allowing the posture to be alive so when you breathe in,

You might let go of the twist a bit as you grow taller and as you breathe out,

Explore with deepening the twist in the upper back.

One more breath here.

Moving all the way back to center.

Pause.

And then trying this on the other side,

Turning towards the left.

Moving gradually into the twist,

Not having to go right to your furthest edge,

But rather slowly,

Gently,

With each breath moving towards a deeper version of the twist perhaps.

No destination you're trying to get to.

Seeing what it feels like to move in this way.

And then once more coming back to center.

What sensations are here in this body now?

What's the breath like?

What's the mind doing with it?

And now the invitation to find a way of sitting that feels restful.

So if you're on the edge of your chair,

You might scooch back.

Making those little small adjustments that allow you to feel supported here.

And then a chance to just be.

No effort to move in any particular way.

Your body here,

After this practice.

What's the general feeling tone in this body?

Where do you feel the breath now?

What are the qualities of the breath now?

Subtle,

Choppy or smooth.

The general feeling tone of the mind,

Heart.

And a chance to just be.

Reviews

Well paced, very Nice 😊

Hello beautiful 🌸🎀🌸🎀🌸Thank you so much for the wonderfully chair yoga session 🌈 I’m surprised what I can do in a chair and how amazing this is🗺️have a blessed day 🕉️Namaste

I wasn’t expecting to feel a great yoga session since there was audio only. But it was great! Very well explained moves. Thanks!

Love the practice

I did this with a group of coworkers. Everyone loved it. Thank you!

So excellent💕. Her directions are clear and concise. The opportunities to just be in the present moment and feel the body sensations are wonderful. So many pictures of people doing yoga show incredibly complex poses that seem unattainable. This session makes yoga accessible to everyone. Namaste 🙏🏻

Very energizing and centering. Made my thoracic spine feel great!

Wonderful! Really great. Thank you. 🙏🏻💕

This felt wonderful. I do some serious Mel yoga each morning but your coaching was a great way to keep it mindful. To allow. Thank you so much.

Just what I need. Absolutely AMAZING! Thank you, this will now be my daily routine 🙏