Chair Yoga for Beginners

In this practice, we will practice working on the joints, improving our range of motion in the back, and opening up the hips. Students may want to use a yoga strap and blocks for this practice.

Here’s a few tips for this sequence.

• Mindful Breathing: There are many ways to breathe in yoga. For our practices in chair yoga, we are simply practicing mindful breathing. Unless otherwise indicated, simply breathe normally and try to tune into the breath as often as possible. Doing your best to just observe the breath and noticing the little nuances about it.

• Warrior II: While you practice Warrior II in the chair, a few things to note:

  • On the leg with the bent knee, the toes on that foot are facing the same direction.

  • On the extended leg, the toes are facing forward, in the same direction of the chest.

  • For some of us, when we extend the “back” leg, we may not be able to press the foot all the way down or we notice pinching in the glutes or back. If so, bring the leg more forward (towards the long side of the mat-- or likely your screen)  or put a soft bend in the knee.

• Rotations: We will practice rotations in this practice with the spine. As you rotate, make sure to lift the spine upward before rotating.

In this practice, we work on the hips. This class may use blocks depending on your practice but a strap or a substitute like a scarf or a belt will be required.

• Sun Salutations: We start exploring seated sun salutations in this class. Try to move the body as you take an inhale or exhale. As a general rule of thumb, anytime the body or a body part goes up, we inhale. As we go down, we tend to exhale. If you can't connect the breath and the movement right away, don't worry about it. Just practice and be easy on yourself!

• Triangle: There multiple ways to practice triangle. Keep in mind that doing just the arms or just the legs is a great way to focus on that area of the body especially as you are working on alignment.

• Pigeon: There are many variations to the seated pigeon. If it is hard to bring the ankle up towards the opposite leg, a strap can be used to lift the leg up as high as you are able to. For a more challenging version of pigeon, you can place a block underneath the foot on the floor. As long as you feel this posture in the hips or even the outside of the glutes, you are doing great!

In this practice, we expand on our first two practices, We will be practicing more postures and building upon old ones by adding more movement to them. In this class, you will want a yoga strap and your yoga blocks.

Here are some tips for this class.

• Mindful Breathing: We continue mindful breathing and sometimes it can be challenging if we have lots of thoughts going on. Placing your hands on the body where you feel the breath can help bring a little more awareness. I have mine on my belly and chest but you can place it anywhere on the body where you feel the breath.

• Lunge: As we practice lunge, try to reach the back leg as far as you can back away from you and really press down into the toes as you keep the heel lifted. Keep the legs engaged while pressing down into the feet while simultaneously lifting up in the torso. We have the option to add movement into the lunge today. Some days you may want more movement, other days it could be nice to hold a static pose and simply stretch. Explore what feels right for you day to day.

• Warrior 2: We are incorporating some movement in the arms during Warrior 2. Bring some muscle activation into the practice, as if you are really pulling an arrow back from a bow as your circle the arms.

• Eagle: Eagle is typically a balancing pose with our arms and legs tangled up. It can get confusing what limb is supposed to be where. As you cross your legs, notice what leg is on top. As you cross the arms, the opposite arm crosses on top.

• Squat: For squat, to make the practice easier, adjust the blocks so they are on the lower side of the blocks.

In this practice, we start to use the chair to help us balance in traditional standing postures. This practice will help stretch the hamstrings and the hips. Stretching the hamstrings and hips can often help with lower back discomfort as well. Here are a few tips for this class.

• Warrior I: In Warrior I, the heels are always pressed into the ground on both feet, watch out for the back foot! Students have a tendency to lift the back heel. If you notice that happens try to press it down. If it's too hard, take a shorter stance. Also, the back foot is rotated about 45 degrees.

• Lunge: Unlike Warrior I, the back heel IS lifted but another very important step is to make sure that the toes are NOT rotated at an angle. You want the toes facing forward with no angling of the back foot and the knee pointed downward. 

• Pyramid: We had really long stances in the other postures but in this one, keep the stance short and the legs straight. This pose stretched the backs of the legs and it is better to keep the legs straight and heels on the ground to get the stretch.

• Warrior 3: In this balancing posture, think up and then out when moving the body. Lift the back leg to wherever you can keeping both hip pints facing down and then press outward through the heel and top of the head. When lining up the body, let the shoulders be above the wrists (it's okay if you need to bend the elbows a bit but try to create a T-shape with the body to the best of your ability. Don't sweat it if you can't hike the leg up very high.

This standing course builds upon our standing practices using the chair as balance. In this class, we are introduced a few of the postures we did in the Seated Chair Yoga Classes. Here are a few tips for some of the postures.

• Warrior II: Revisiting Warrior 2, the same principles of the chair version apply. While we practice use the chair as a directional point for the front knee. While keeping the hip points facing the long side of the mat, the center of the knee is rotating towards the chair. It's hard to keep them both in place so remember this is a practice. There's always something to explore and work on.

• Side Angle and Reverse Warrior: We will move from Warrior II right into Side Angle and Reverse Warrior. While moving between the postures, try to keep the legs as they are in Warrior II, it is just the upper body that we are moving.

• Triangle Pose: In triangle pose, it's more important that the chest is open and the shoulders line up when we side bend than it is to get the hand to the lower part of the chair. Imagine there is a wall behind you and you are trying to keep the back of your shoulders on the wall.

In this class, we start practicing standing sun salutations and incorporating more movement and transitions into practice. We have already done the seated version of sun salutations. This will help bring more balance and transition challenges into your practice.

• Standing Sun Salutations: We are starting with the easier version of the sun salutation. Like the seated version, if you are practicing coordinating your breath with the movement, inhale as the body lifts up and exhale and the body releases down. Additionally, the chair is optional for the standing postures. If you feel safe and balanced without it, you can place your hands on the chair only when you deem it necessary.

• Triangle: Often with triangle, students try to get their bottom hand lower but often before they are ready and reducing the benefits of the posture in exchange. Try to keep the chest open and imagine your back against a wall the entire time with legs straight.

• Warrior III: We practice with the hands-on the chair but if you would like to make it more challenging you can:

1. Extend one arm out to the side

2. OR Extend one arm forward. In this modification, you can even use the top of the chair for support.

In this class, we incorporate more stretching and movement for the upper body.  Have a yoga strap or a substitute nearby to help. It is optional but blocks can also be helpful.

• Lunge Flow: We practice movement with the lunge. I encourage you to try different modifications. Even if you are able to place the hands on the blocks, it could be a different experience to keep the hands on the thighs as we bend back.  Different modifications can help you learn more about your body and how very small changes can impact how you feel the stretch.

• Goddess:  Goddess is a hip opener. Even though we are incorporating movement, we should always have an awareness of the direction of the hips. It should always feel like there is a stretch in the pelvic area from the active rotation.

• Eagle: Before lifting the arms, press the elbows forward. You'll notice a difference in the stretch in the upper back.

Make sure to have a strap or a substitute on this one.

• Half Moon: Half-moon is one of the more challenging balancing postures in the chair. Not only do you work on balance but also the strengthening in the legs. One thing that will help is to get the upper body alignment set. The hand should be directly underneath the shoulder as you practice the side bend. Also, it's okay if you cannot lift the toes up right away. Start with just lifting the heel and use the toes as a kickstand as you build up your strength and balance.

• Hand to Big Toe Pose: In this class, we practice hand to big toe pose. It helps stretch the back of the legs and the lower back if you incorporate the bend. If you cannot extend the leg, that is okay! Just put a bend in the knee.

• Rotation: As we practice the rotation near the end of class, I included the modification to reach for the small of the lower back or the opposite hip. As you practice, make sure to keep the spine elongated and the pelvis neutral.

This practice builds upon previous classes be incorporating more movement, variation, and balancing poses. Here are some tips for this chair yoga class.

• Warrior 3: In this version, we incorporate movement. Do what you can! You can always try the more challenging version but if the legs start getting tired, you can brush the toes against the floor.

• Goddess: This will help strengthen the legs. As you practice, keep the tail bone tucked under. To make it more challenging you could take the feet out wider or lower down closer towards the ground.

• Extended leg lifts: These are a great way to strengthen the legs as we work on balance. Here are a few modifications you can try if the full version is too challenging.

1. Lift the heel just a few inches off of the ground.

2. Practice the lift with the knee bent

   
   

In this how-to, we break down Warrior 2 seated and standing with the support of the chair.

In this how-to, we will explore side angle. Participants will want to use a yoga block or a substitute.

In this how-to, we will explore triangle. Participants will want a yoga block and a strap.

In this how-to, we will explore Goddess. This can be practiced seated or in a chair.

In this howto, we practice Eagle in a chair.

In this how-to, we review how to do a seated sun salutation. We stay in the chair the entire portion of this practice.

In this how-to, we practice an easy sun salutation standing. This sun salutation is perfect for beginners looking to build up their standing yoga practice in a gentle and supported way.

In this how-to, we practice a more challenging sun salutation. Participants may want to place a chair against a wall for more stability. This is a more advanced version of Chair Yoga Sun Salutations that you will see practiced in our next Chair Yoga Series. This is an excellent practice to start incorporating on your own as you build up balance and strength.