Accessible Chair Yoga #2

Limitations to traditional yoga classes can include having space, equipment, and changing clothes. Chair Yoga is an adapted style of yoga that allows you to stay in your normal clothes and still get the effects of a regular yoga class, all from the comfort of a stable chair.

Transcript

Welcome to Office Chair Yoga. I'm Jerry Givens, And today I'm going to guide you through a set of practices that help to relieve tension and to calm the nervous system. And what you'll need for this practice is a steady chair and just a little bit of space. And if anything I invite you to do you can't do with the space you have available, Feel free to modify it so that you can do it to the best of your ability. Now, Everything I offer you here will be in a sequence, But know that you can take these practices out of sequence and practice them on your own if you'd like to. Now with that, Everything is an offering. You don't have to do everything. If something doesn't feel good or it feels painful, Feel free to sit that one out or modify it if you can. Most importantly, Stay safe and have fun. To begin, Slide forward to the edge of your seat. Sitting tall, Relax your shoulders and close your eyes. And become aware of your body resting here. Your feet on the floor, Your seat in the chair. And notice the sensations inside of your body. Some of those feelings may be uncomfortable. Perhaps there's some pain or discomfort. And at the same time, In the same body, You also may sense regions or places that feel relaxed and open already. And while we might have a preference for the more pleasant sensations, Just notice all of it. Feel your breath moving in your body, Expanding on inhale, Contracting on exhale. And that might be a big movement. It might be a smaller movement. It might feel easy to breathe. It might not feel so easy to breathe. Just notice. Notice how you're feeling energetically today. Perhaps you're feeling tired, Exhausted. Lethargic. Perhaps you're feeling hyper or restless or excited. Maybe you're feeling calm. Or a paradoxical blend of these. The awareness of your body your breath and your energetic state notice how your mind is doing Is the mind staying focused? Does it wander? What thoughts and emotions are present? Don't judge the mind. Just be aware. How is the mind? And it's with this awareness of the body, The breath, Your energetic state, And your state of mind that we can better tend to the needs of your system. So with that, Go ahead and take a deeper, Fuller breath. And slowly allow your eyes to open. Bringing yourself back to the space around you. Sitting tall, Take your arms down by your sides. And with your inhale, Sweep the arms out to the sides and overhead, Reaching up. And exhale, Bring the arms back down. Again inhale, Lift the arms up and overhead. And exhale, Bring the arms down. We'll do that a few more times, Reaching up through the fingertips with the inhale. Exhale release. Inhale reaching up. Exhale down. Last one, Reach up, Reach up, Reach up, Reach up as much as you can. Keep reaching. And exhale bring the arms down and feel sensation. Sitting tall, Interlace your fingers in front of you and press your palms away from you, Straightening your arms. Then take the arms overhead and soften your elbows. With an inhale, Straighten the arms and reach up through the palms, Big stretch, And exhale, Bend the elbows. Inhale extend upwards again big stretch like you just woke up Exhale, Release. Again, Pressing up, Reach up just a little bit higher this time. Exhale, Bend the elbows. Again, Reach out, Please. Reach, Reach, Reach. Bend the elbows one more time. Press up as high as you can. Big stretch, Big reach. Reach, Reach, Reach, Reach. Then release the hands, Bringing the arms down. Go ahead and interlace your fingers in front of you and press the palms away from you as you straighten the arms toward the ceiling. And then go ahead and reach up through the palms powerfully and tilt the ribcage gently to the right. We're going to stay here and breathe for a moment, Feeling length along the left side of your body. Inhale, Coming back up. Press up again powerfully through the palms and pivot the ribcage this time to the left. Feeling Link along that right side, Breathing deeply here. Inhale, Come on back up. Release the palms down. Maybe roll the shoulders back and forward a few times just to adjust. So next we'll do a dynamic twisting exercise. So sitting tall, Go ahead and lift your arms into the air. Now as you exhale, Take your right arm forward, Your left arm behind you, And twist to the left. Inhale, Unwind. Exhale, Go ahead and twist to the right. Inhale and wide. Exhale to the left. Inhale, Unwind. Exhale to the right. Inhale, Unwind. Keep going from side to side a few more times, Feeling length in the spine as you inhale, Reaching up before twisting to the other side. Good. As you twist to the left this time, Go ahead and stay. Rolling that left shoulder back for a breath or two. And with an inhale, You're going to lift the arms up to unwind. And exhale, Twist to the right, Rolling the right shoulder back this time. Again, Staying for a few breaths. And with your next inhale, Lift the arms up, Stay facing forward, And release the arms on down. Sitting tall, Go ahead and shrug your shoulders up towards your ears as much as you can. Then exhale, Let the shoulders drop down. Inhale lifting the shoulders up towards your ears Exhale, Letting them drop down gently. Again, Squeeze the shoulders up towards your ears. Inhale. Exhale drop and then this time shrug the shoulders up as much as you can and keep squeezing keep breathing keep squeezing squeezing squeezing squeezing squeezing as much as you can Breathe. Breathe here. Almost done. Keep squeezing. Deep breath in. And with your next exhalation, Drop the shoulders down. Good. So next we'll do an exercise to help stretch the neck. So sitting tall, Go ahead and drop your right ear to your right shoulder. Then bring the head back up and drop your left ear to your left shoulder. And then slowly go back and forth. Side to side a couple of times. Feeling length along the sides of the neck. Maybe one side feels tighter than the other. Then bringing an ear to a side. Go ahead and roll the chin down to your chest and roll over to the other side, Stopping there. Roll forward again. Come back to the first side, These half circles. Feeling the back of the neck stretch as you go from side to side. Breathe as you feel that stretch along the back of the neck. Side to side. You can let the jaw be loose here if you'd like to. Almost done. Bring the head straight down. Tuck the chin back towards your throat slightly to feel an emphasis of the stretch at the back of the neck. You might even wiggle the forehead from side to side a little bit to help coax that tension out of the neck. Keep breathing. Bring the head to stillness. And carefully lift the head up to center and notice sensation. Sitting tall at the edge of your seat. Go ahead and lift your arms up and overhead, And then extend both arms forward, Palms face up like you're holding onto a tray. And at the same time, You're going to lean back in your chair, Keeping your spine flat. And don't go so far back that you fall. And also don't round the back at all because you're not really doing anything there. All right. You want to tilt the pelvis forward, Flatten the back and hold. And we'll go in and out of that a few times. So go ahead and lift your arms up, Exhale, Extend your arms, Holding onto the tray, Lean back. Inhale lift up. Exhaling back again. Inhale lifting up. Exhale leaning back. Keep going, Inhale, Lift. Exhale, Lean back. Inhale it. Exhale, Lean back. Feeling that engagement in the core. Inhale, Lift. Exhale, Lean. Good, We're gonna hold this time. Breathe. Don't clench your jaw. Keep the back flat. Keep holding that tray in front of you. Breathe. Almost there. And then inhale, Lifting up. And as you exhale, Go ahead and fold down over the legs. When it's too much to have the arms hanging to the floor, You can always bring your hands back up onto your thighs, But let the head release here. And breathe. And then when you're ready with an inhale, You're going to go ahead and sit up. And feel good job Sitting tall at the edge of your seat, Please lift both arms into the air, And with your exhale, Fold forward over the thighs. Inhale, Coming back up. Now if that's too much for you, You can take the arms out to the side and bend the elbows, Cactus arms, And fold here instead. And then come back up. And if you don't like that, You can also bring your hands onto your hips and fold here. The point is to keep the back flat the entire time. So pick which one you'd like to do, And we'll continue. Exhale, Fold forward with a flat back, Not collapsing onto the thighs. Inhale, Back up. Again, Exhale, Folding forward. Inhale, Rising up, Choosing which arm position you'd like to use. It's okay to change your mind partway through. We'll do a few more rounds. Keep going. Exhale, Folding forward. Inhale, Coming back up. You're almost done. Then inhale, Coming up to a seat, Relaxing the arms and feeling sensation. Sitting tall, Please flex your right foot and lift your right knee up towards your chest. Now you can hold just below the knee if you'd like to, Or if you can't, You can hold behind the thigh instead. Either way. . . Try to set up as tall as you can, Not rounding the back. And we'll stay and breathe here for just a little bit, Keeping that upright posture in your spine, Keeping the right foot flexed, Keeping a hold of that thigh or knee. Nice gentle release for the hip here. And then carefully put that right foot back down. And when you're ready, We'll do the other side. Flexing the left foot, Lift the left knee. Again, You can hold below the knee or behind the thigh, But make your connection. Sit up nice and tall. Feel the chest lift. That upright posture in your spine again. Please breathe here. Again, Feeling that gentle stretch in the hip. Carefully put that left foot down and adjust. Sitting tall when you're ready go ahead and fold forward down over your thighs if you'd like to you can let the hands and arms hang toward the floor If that's too much for you, You can always bring the hands back up onto the thighs or knees. Feel that gentle stretch in the back body, The lower back. Also the head drops, Feeling a gentle stretch at the back of the neck. Breathing softly here. With your next inhalation, Go ahead and sit up comfortably. And feel. Thank you for joining me for Cheer Yoga. I hope you had fun. I hope you learned something new. And remember to return to these practices anytime you need to. So until next time, Take care.