Accessible Chair Yoga #3

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. Now 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 go ahead and 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. 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 feet and knees into a wide stance, A little wider than your shoulders. You're going to start to sway on the spine from side to side, Keeping the hips grounding, But letting your spine be loose like a blade of grass blowing in the wind. So moving from side to side, This can be really dramatic with the head falling from side to side with you. If that's too much, You can have the head be in line with the spine to protect the neck, But do whatever feels good for you here. Swaying. Loosening up the spine. It's great to do if you feel stiff and stagnant. And please keep breathing as you go from side to side. Just a couple more times. And then go ahead and zip yourself up to a tall seat. And breathe. So sitting tall at the edge of your seat, Take a deep breath in. Squeeze the shoulder blades together. Let the head fall back and open your chest. As you exhale, Round the upper back and look down at your lap. Inhale, Open the chest again. Look up. And exhale, Round the back, Look down. And keep moving between these extremes. Inhale, Opening up. Exhale, Rounding. And it's good to mention that this movement is happening from the mid-spine upwards. The lower back stays pretty steady here. It doesn't move that much at all. Opening the chest with the inhale exhale rounding the upper back bring some mobility to this upper spine region of the body that gets so stiff when we sit for long periods of time Good. Staying open this time. Feeling the chest open, The head falling back. Breathe here. Gentle stretch for the throat as well. And then go ahead and round the back, Looking down. Feel the shoulder blades separate at your upper back, Chin tucking under. And the lower back stays flat here. Breathe. Inhale, Come to a neutral spine. Drop the shoulders down and feel sensation. 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. Good job. 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 of 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. Carefully lift the head up to center and notice sensation. Tall take your knees wide apart a little wider than your shoulders Then take your left elbow down onto your left thigh or knee, Your right hand onto your right hip, And roll the right shoulder back. Staying here for a breath or two, Looking up toward the ceiling if you can. When you're ready, Lift the right arm up and overhead, Extending out over the left foot. Just going to breathe here, Feeling length along the right side, Keeping your right hip grounding to your chair. And carefully with an inhale, Bring yourself back up. Good, And then we'll do the other side. So when you're ready, Bring your right elbow down onto your right thigh or knee, Left hand on the left hip, And roll the left shoulder back, Looking up if you can, Staying for a breath or two. And with your next inhalation, Sweep the left arm up and overhead, Out over the right toes. Roll that left shoulder back as much as you can. Again, Looking up here, Feeling length along that left side and grounding the left hip. And then inhale, Come back up to a seat. To adjust. Please take your feet and knees into a wide stance. Bring your hands on top of your thighs, Fingers pointing inward so that your elbows can bend easily. Then go ahead and fold about halfway forward and begin to swing on your spine from side to side. The hips stay grounded. When the spine moves from side to side, The head can move with you. There's usually no wrong way to do this, But you're just going to move from side to side. It can get a little dancey if you'd like it to. Just feel and breathe side to side. Loosening up the spine only going as far forward as you feel comfortable. Again, There's no wrong way to do this. Just loosening up the spine. Breathe. And then go ahead and wind it in. And allow yourself to fold forward here. From center, Letting the head drop, Chin toward the throat. Only going as far forward as you can comfortably here, But allow the natural weight of the head to traction the neck. Feeling sensation. When you're ready, Go ahead and inhale to sit up. Take a moment as you let the circulation return to your body. And adjust. Good job. So our next exercise will help to bring circulation to the legs, Specifically the knee joints, Relieving tension. So go ahead and lift your right foot off the ground and lift the knee up just as gently. Inhale, Extend the right leg forward and bring it back in. Then turn the toes inward and extend. Bring it back in. Turn the toes outward. Extend the leg. Bring it back in. Point forward and extend. And back, Point inward, Extend, And back. Outward extend and back. Again, Forward and back. Inward and back. Outward and back. Forward and back. Good. Inward and point. Outward extend. Last one. Extend forward. Bring it back in and place the foot down. Side number two. Go ahead and lift the left foot. Lift the knee. Inhale. Extend straight forward. And then bend the knee. Turn the toes inward. Extend. And back, Turn the toes outward, Extend, And back. Might forward extend. Point the toes inward, Extend. And back, Point the toes outward, Extend, And back. Forward Inward, Back, Outward, Back, Forward, Back, Inward, Back, Outward, Back. Last one, Point the toes forward, Extend, Bring it back, And place the foot down to feel sensation. So starting with your arms by your side go ahead and begin to wiggle your hands. Shaking them back and forth like there's something on the tips of your fingers that you're trying to shake off and just keep shaking keep shaking get the arms involved and the elbows starting to take your arms out to the sides a little bit shake shake shake shake shake shake shake shake shake Breathe. Taking your arms up a little higher. Keep shaking, Keep shaking, Keep shaking. Maybe up all the way overhead as much as you can. Keep shaking, Keep shaking, Keep shaking. Shake, Shake, Shake, Shake, Shake. Again taking deep breaths here. Keep going. You're almost there. Shake, Shake, Shake, Shake, Shake, Shake. Do for one or two more breaths. Keep shaking, Keep shaking, And release. Good. Feel sensation. Allow the breath to adjust. Good job. So sitting tall, Go ahead and roll the shoulders down the back, Open the chest, And look up. With your exhale go ahead and fold forward over the thighs And you can let your arms hang to the floor if you'd like to. And if that's too much on your back, You can go ahead and bring those hands back up onto your thighs, But keep folding forward, Feeling that stretch at your lower back. The head is dropping, Feeling a gentle stretch at the back of the neck. And breathing here. And then with an inhale, Carefully sit back up. And feel sensation. 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.