Hello and welcome to your 20 minute chair yoga class for upper body.
My name is Victoria and I'll be guiding you through this flow today.
So let's get started.
Placing one hand on the belly and one hand on the heart.
Allow the eyes to flutter shut or soften your gaze down towards the earth.
Beginning to take deep breaths in through the nose.
And exhaling out the mouth.
Feeling the breath move your body up and down.
Let's take one more deep breath here.
Now placing the hands down into your lap.
And slowly start to move the head side to side.
Noticing how the neck is feeling today.
And now begin to nod the head up and down.
Pointing the chin up to the sky as high as it would like to go.
And then down to the chest.
Bring the head back to center.
And now we'll start to make full circles with the head and neck.
If you find a sticky spot,
Feel free to spend an extra breath there.
Moving slowly to feel every sensation in the neck and shoulders.
Slowly start to change directions if you haven't yet already.
Bring the head back to center.
Gently blink the eyes open.
Take a deep breath in.
Sweep the arms up to the sky.
Palms touch.
Exhale,
Release.
Let's do that two more times.
Inhale,
Stretch.
Exhale,
Release.
And one last time.
Inhale your biggest breath in.
Reach and stretch to the sky.
Exhale,
Release.
Now start to make big circles with the arms and shoulders to the back of the room.
Really reach the arms up high.
Peel the chest open.
And now change direction.
Begin to circle towards the front of the room.
Now inhale,
Sweep the arms up to the sky.
Really stretch the fingertips nice and wide.
And then we'll tuck the thumbs into the palms.
Wrap the four fingers on top and make little circles with the wrists.
And slowly change directions of your circles.
And now inhale,
Stretch the arms up high.
As you exhale,
Bend the elbows.
Lift the chest and chin.
Inhale,
Extend.
Exhale,
Cactus the elbows.
Squeeze the shoulder blades together.
And one last time.
Inhale,
Extend.
Exhale,
Squeeze.
Now keeping the elbows bent,
Close the arms together like a book.
Now take the right arm.
Weave it under the left for our eagle arms.
Bringing the backs of the hands together.
Or finding a double wrap,
Bringing the palms together.
Now inhale.
Lift the elbows,
Chest and chin to the sky.
As you exhale,
Round the spine.
Bring the elbows to the belly button.
Inhale,
Extend.
Exhale,
Round.
One last time.
Inhale,
Lift.
Exhale,
Round.
Now bring yourself to sit up nice and tall.
And we'll cross the arms over for a big bear hug.
Squeeze yourself nice and tight.
Let your chin fall down to your chest.
And gently rock yourself side to side.
Inhale,
Stretch the arms up to the sky.
Exhale,
Cactus the elbows.
Lift the chest and chin.
And slowly start to close the arms like a book once again.
This time we take the left arm.
Weave it under the right.
Finding our eagle arms.
Inhale,
Lift the elbows,
Chest and chin.
Exhale,
Round the spine.
Bring the chin to your chest.
Inhale,
Lift.
Exhale,
Round.
Inhale,
Lift.
Exhale,
Round.
Bring yourself up nice and tall.
We'll cross the arms over once again.
And a big bear hug.
Gently rock yourself side to side.
Inhale,
Stretch the arms up to the sky.
And as you exhale,
We'll side bend to the right.
So release the right hand down.
The left arm will reach up and over to the right.
Gaze can be up to the sky.
Or if it feels better for your neck,
Maybe down towards the right elbow.
Really press the left side,
The left sit bone,
Down into the chair.
Inhale,
Stretch the arms up high.
Exhale,
Side bend to the left.
Pressing the right sit bone down into the chair.
Take one more deep breath here.
Inhale,
Stretch both arms up to the sky.
Exhale,
Spinal twist to the right.
You can rest both hands to the outside of the right thigh.
You can also hook the right arm up and around your chair if you have the space.
And then gaze to the right or maybe all the way over your right shoulder to the back of the room.
Taking three deep breaths here.
Inhale,
Stretch the arms up to the sky.
Exhale,
Twist to the left.
Both hands to the outside of the left thigh.
Spine is nice and tall.
Gazing to the left or maybe all the way over the left shoulder to the back of the room.
Inhale,
Reach the arms up high.
Exhale,
Side bend to the right.
Inhale,
Extend.
Exhale,
To the left.
Inhale,
Lift both arms high.
Exhale,
Twist to the right.
Inhale,
Through center.
Exhale,
Twist to the left.
And one last time through this flow.
Inhale,
Arms extend.
Exhale,
Bend to the right.
Inhale,
Center.
Exhale,
To the left.
Inhale,
Extend.
Exhale,
Twist to the right.
Inhale,
Extend.
Exhale,
Twist to the left.
Inhale,
Extend,
Both arms high.
Exhale,
Release the hands down to the knees for Cat-Cow.
You might want to scoot forward slightly so your spine has some space to round towards the back of your chair.
Inhale,
Bend the elbows,
Lift the chest and chin,
Cow Pose.
Exhale,
Round the spine,
Bring the chin to your chest,
Cat Pose.
Inhale,
Extend and lift,
Cow.
Exhale,
Round the spine,
Cat.
Going through two more rounds here.
Inhale to lift.
Exhale,
Round.
One last time.
Inhale,
Cow.
Exhale,
Cat.
Bring yourself to a tall seat.
And now we'll gently step the feet out so that they're slightly wider than the width of our chair.
Placing the hands on the tops of the thighs,
Inhale to lengthen the spine up to the sky.
And as you exhale,
Dip the shoulders down to the right knee.
Swivel all the way over to the left and circle all the way up to the top.
And feel free to close your eyes as you circle the spine all the way around here.
Take one more circle in this direction.
And then once you make your way to the center,
Take a deep breath in and begin to circle the opposite way.
Maybe notice,
Observe,
If you feel any differences in your body now that we've changed directions in our circles.
And slowly find your way back to center.
Inhale to lengthen the spine up to the sky.
And slowly start to point the elbows out to the side.
Nice and slow,
We begin to dip the chest through the knees,
Feeling a gentle stretch through the shoulders and chest.
Remember to keep the elbows pointing up to the sky.
If it feels okay in the head,
Let the head drape down towards the earth.
Maybe a gentle nod of the head side to side or up and down.
Take one more deep breath here.
And very slowly start to bring yourself to an upright seat.
And then gently step the legs together.
Inhale,
Sweep the arms up to the sky,
Palms touch.
Exhale,
Release the arms down.
Again,
Inhale,
Reach and stretch.
Exhale,
Release.
And one last time,
Your biggest breath in,
Really stretch,
Stretch,
Stretch.
Exhale,
Gently release the arms down into your lap.
And scooting back into your chair,
Finding a tall seat once again.
And allowing the eyes to flutter shut.
Ending class where we started,
Begin to roll out the head and neck.
Observe any changes you might be feeling in your body versus when we did this at the beginning of class.
Changing directions if you haven't yet already.
And bringing your head and neck back to center,
Keeping the eyes closed.
And once again,
Placing one hand on the belly,
One hand on the heart.
Begin to breathe in through the nose,
Feel the belly expand.
And exhale,
Sigh it out the mouth.
And one more time.
Two more breaths just like this.
Gently rest your hands down into your lap.
Spine is tall to the sky.
Taking a few moments here to ground yourself into the present moment before you go on with the rest of your day.
Notice the sounds that you hear around you.
Feel the temperature of the air on your skin.
Feel your feet resting down on the earth.
Feeling rooted and supported by the earth below you.
Feel free to stay here as long as you need.
Thank you so much for joining me for chair yoga today.
And I hope you enjoy the rest of your beautiful day.
Until next time,
Namaste.
