Chair Yoga to Soothe Your Nervous System

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, tense, or mentally busy, this 20-minute chair yoga practice is designed to help calm and soothe your nervous system and gently release built-up tension.

In this session, we combine gentle yoga, somatic movement, and elements of Qi Gong, moving slowly and mindfully to help the body shift out of stress and into a calmer, more regulated state.

This practice may help you:
• release tension held in the body
• calm the nervous system
• reduce feelings of overwhelm
• reconnect with your breath and body

Everything is done seated in a chair, making it accessible if you have arthritis, joint pain, or limited mobility.

Transcript

Hello Flowly friends and welcome to this chair yoga session that is designed to help you soothe your nervous system. We are going to use a little somatic movement, A little bit of qigong and yoga combined, All from the comfort of your chair to help you feel a little calmer and a little more centered, Soothing that nervous system. So all you're going to need for this practice is a nice sturdy chair and maybe a pillow or a cushion towards the end of the practice for relaxation. So whenever you're ready, Let's get started. So whenever you're ready, Just get nice and comfortable in your seat. You can have the full support of the back of the chair on your back. Just while we just take a few moments to breathe. Have your knees right above your ankles in a nice neutral position, Hands just resting on your lap and just letting your shoulders relax down. It is entirely up to you whether you close your eyes here or maybe you just soften your gaze. Let's take a nice deep breath in through the nose. And then as we exhale, Making it a bit longer than the inhale. Take another nice big breath in. And same again, Longer exhale. Inhale deeply. And let it go If you can, Just allowing your breath to return to its natural rhythm. And just start to turn your attention inward. Notice how you feel in this moment, But do so without holding any judgment for the way that you feel. Know that you are safe sitting here on your chair. And set a little intention to connect to your body. Move with ease. And breathe deeply. Stay here for a few breaths. Wonderful, Whenever you're ready take a big breath in. Have a little bit of a noisy sigh out. And then nice and gently blink open the eyes if you did close them. Now we're going to just sit forward a little bit on the chair just so that when we do get moving, We're not going to hit the back of the chair. We can be nice and comfortable. Now you can keep your hands resting on your lap or maybe you bring your hands to your chair. And then when you're ready, We're just going to start to take a little sway from side to side. Moving really gently, Really softly. Maybe lifting or rotating the shoulder as you move. Taking a little sway of the head and neck if that feels good. And just allowing your breath. Be as natural as possible here. You may close your eyes if this movement feels comfortable. Perfect. Keep it going. Notice how you feel in your upper body as you move here. Notice sensations or anything that's coming up within your body right now. Wonderful. Now whenever you're ready start to turn this little sway from side to side in a little bit of a circular motion So not trying to think too much about it. Just move in that circle motion. Maybe this time you might drop your head, Maybe lift the nose slightly. Just do whatever feels good to you. Move intuitively. We're not thinking too much about it. We're just moving in a way that the body naturally wants to. Wonderful! Then whenever you're ready, Just take a little stop. And then let's go the other way. Same again, Nice and gentle. Do what feels good. Maybe you keep your eyes closed. Still noticing, Tuning into the body. We're letting go of everything else. We're being fully present on the chair. Wonderful. When you're ready, Nice and gently just come back to stillness. You can rest your hands back on your lap. Take a nice big breath. And a sigh out. We're going to be doing lots of those sides out. Okay, So little Qigong movement. Arms are going to come down by your side and really softly, We're going to sweep the arms up. Fingertips are pointing down towards the floor. We're going to reach them up just above the head and then let the palms face forward. Nice and soft, Soft elbow, Bringing the arms all the way down. Lovely. Inhale, Sweep it up. And exhale, We float it down. Nice, Soft elbows. Find some fluidity in this movement. Inhale all the way up. Exhale, Bringing it down. And how we take out. Exhale float it down. Wonderful. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. And exhale, Float it down. Start to tune in to how you feel again here. Maybe this creates a little bit of energy or maybe it makes you feel quite calm and centered. Inhale, Take it up. Exhale down we go Last one, Take an inhale, Reach up. But then this time, Exhale, Float the hands nice and gently to your knees. Take a moment here. Let your shoulders relax down. Big breath in. Sigh it out. We're going to take ourselves into a slow cat cow here. Inhale, Chest comes forward. And just lifting the gaze. Perfect. Exhale. We slowly round the spine towards the back of the chair, Chin to chest. Inhale, Let's bring it forward Cow pose. Rounding it out chin to chest Feel the back gently stretch here. Inhale bring it forward exhale we let it go releasing some tension in your back. Maybe in your shoulders. Inhale, One more round. Bring it forward. And exhale, We let it go. Wonderful, Nice and gently, Just bringing yourself back. Nice upright spine. OK, Let's sit forward just a little bit on the chair. And we're going to take the feet so that they're about hip distance apart so you've got a bit of a gap in between your knees you're going to hold on to the sides of the chair and then nice and gently you're just going to allow the knees to swish one side And slowly back to centre. And then to the other side. Perfect. Back to centre. Over to the right. Back to centre. Over to the left. Wonderful. Now we're going to go straight from one side to the other. So take the legs over to the right and then all the way through center. Over to the left. Lovely. Back to centre. Over to the right. Perfect. Just keep that going. Nice, Gentle breathing. Don't rush the movement. Perfect. Keep breathing. Let's do a couple more each side. Wonderful nice and gently bring yourself back to centre wonderful bring your feet back in So knees are in that neutral position again. And then we're going to just take the arms out into a T-shape. Nice and gently reach and extend here. Just feel your chest opening up and get nice and tall through your spine. Take an inhale. Exhale, We're going to bring the arms in for a hug here. Give yourself a little squeeze, Nice big squeeze. Wonderful. Take another inhale, Reach the elbows up towards the sky and then release the arms, Reaching up for a nice big stretch. Wonderful. On an exhale, Let's come forward into forward fold. Chest comes over the thighs, We let the head hang forwards. Wonderful. When you're ready, Take a big inhale. We're going to rise all the way up. Nice big reach. Bring the palms together. And then exhale, We're just gonna bring the arms out into a T-shape. Wonderful. Bring it in for a hug. Nice big hug. Give yourself a squeeze. Inhale lift the elbows up towards the sky nice big reach and stretch reach Exhale, Let's hinge forward over the legs nice and gently. Let that head hang forward, Back is just gently stretching. When you're ready, Big inhale, Rise up, Circle in the arms, Reach, Reach, Reach. Lovely. Exhale, Take the arms back out into that T shape. We're going to do a few more rounds of this. So bring the arms in for a hug. Give yourself a squeeze. Lovely. Inhale, Lift the elbows, Gently releasing the arms up into the air. Nice big stretch here. Exhale, Hinging forwards. Forward fold. Wonderful. Once you feel that stretch in the back, Take an inhale, Rise all the way up. Big reach reach reach Exhale, Open up the arms. Open up the chest. Feel those arms stretch. Lovely. Inhale. Exhale bring in for a hug give yourself a squeeze Lovely. Inhale, Lift the elbows up. Reach the arms. Nice big reach and stretch. Feel the torso stretching, Then exhale over the leg. Wonderful. We're going to do one more round here. Let the head hang forwards. When you're ready, Big inhale. We rise all the way up. Big reach. Lovely. Exhale, Open the arms. Just feeling that. Opening and stretching through arms, Your chest, Maybe even in your shoulders here. Inhale. Exhale, Bring the arms in. Give yourself a squeeze. Nice big tight one this time. Inhale, Lift the elbows, Releasing the arms up into the air. And exhale last one forward fold head hangs forward. Perfect. Take an inhale. We rise all the way up. Big reach, Reach, Reach. Press the palms together just for a moment. Take a breath. And then exhale, Let your arms nice and gently come down by your side. If you want to, You can roll your shoulders here. But then just take a moment just to kind of notice how you feel. Maybe you keep your eyes closed for a second. Take a big breath. So you're out. Wonderful. Okay, Let's try and release a little bit of tension from the neck and shoulders now. So what we're going to do is we're going to draw the right knee in towards the chest. You can do this by grabbing around the front of the knee or lifting up from underneath your thigh. So squeeze that right knee up on an inhale. Squeeze in. Make sure your spine gets tall here. So you're pulling in. You're getting nice and tall. Posture is good here. Shoulders are dropped down. Then keep squeezing, Take an inhale. Exhale, We're gonna roll the nose down in the direction of that knee. It does not need to touch. You just roll it down. Do you kind of feel that stretch all the way across the back of your shoulder? Hopefully releasing, Melting away some tension here. Breathe in. Exhale. Wonderful. Take an inhale, Roll the head up nice and slowly and then gently release the leg down. Perfect take it to the other side. Squeezing up the knee. Find that posture, Get nice and tall. And then when you're ready, Take an inhale. And exhale, Rolling the nose towards the knee. Lovely. Hold it here. Breathe deeply. Let it go. Wonderful. Take an inhale, Roll the head up and then nice and gently let the leg come down. Perfect. Couple of little neck stretches now just to take that little bit of a stretch, That little bit of a tension reliever up that little bit higher. So relax your shoulders down and then just allow your left ear to just come to left shoulder. Close your eyes for a moment. Notice how your neck feels. Breathe into it. And let it go. Gorgeous. Nice and gently bring your head back to centre and then nice and gently we're going to take right ear to right shoulder. Feel that stretch, Breathe into it. And let it go Wonderful. Inhale nice and slowly. Bring your head back to centre and then we're going to drop chin down to chest. Draw it in as close as you can. Now you're going to feel that stretch down your neck, But you can deepen this stretch by rolling the shoulders back nice and gently, Holding it here. Take a big breath in. Exhale. Wonderful. Inhale, Slowly lift the nose. Take a little gaze up, Lift the nose just a little bit. Take a little gaze up towards the ceiling. Wonderful nice and gently chin back down to the chest one more time Take a breath. Let it go. And then bring your head back. To centre. Perfect. So we're gonna end with a little qigong, Slightly different to what we did before, But this is where you might wanna grab your pillow or your cushion. So you can pop it behind your back. You can sit on it. I like to put mine just on my lap just to rest my forearms on. But it's entirely up to you how you use yours. Just get nice and comfortable. OK, So we're going to start with the right palm. It's going to be facing up towards the sky. Just going to rest that on your lap or on your pillow. And then with a nice soft arm, You're going to float the left arm up on an inhale. Bringing the hand above the head and on your exhale, Bringing the hand nice and slowly down through center. And then we switch. Left hand palm turns up inhale soft sweep of the right arm. Exhale bringing it down through centre. Inhale, Sweep it up. Exhale, Bringing it down through centre. Inhale, Taking it up. Exhale, Bringing it down. Find your rhythm here. We are marrying this movement with breath. And notice How this little movement, How this. . . Attention on the breath here. Just allows you to feel a little bit more centered, A little bit more out of your head and into your body. You can close your eyes at any point here. And just keep it going. Wonderful next time you bring your hand down to rest on your lap Just rest both hands here. You can keep your palms turned up or just place them wherever feels the most comfortable. Allow your shoulders to relax. And close your eyes if you've not closed them already. Take a big breath in. Sigh out. Take a moment to notice how your body feels in this moment. Remember, We do so with no judgment. And then if you can just follow the rhythm of your breath just for the next minute or so. Allowing each of the inhales to just soften your body, Relaxing you. Bringing that calmness to the body. And remember that each exhale is always an opportunity to let go. Anything that isn't serving you, Any tension, Any stress. We let it go here. Whenever you're ready. Let go of following the breath. Start to wiggle your fingers and toes. And then add in any little movement that's going to feel good to just gently wake up your body again. And then whenever you're ready, Just Sitting up nice and tall. Taking a nice big inhale through your nose. And one last big noisy sigh out. Blink open the eyes when you're ready. And pop a little smile on your face. Thank yourself for doing something positive for your body and your mind. That brings us to the close of this chair yoga session to soothe your nervous system. Thank you so much for watching and I hope to see you in the next one.