There are 8 Limbs (or steps) in YOGA: Ethics, Self-care, Asana (the poses), Pranayama (the breath), Mindfulness, Concentration, Devotion, and Union.

Friday, January 24, 2014

Let's Do Some Chair Yoga!

Seated Mountain Pose

Surely you have a chair that has no arms like this one from IKEA?

Get in that chair and have someone read this to you. Go slowly. 


Place your feet flat on the floor; hip-distance apart; ankles under knees; arms down by your sides.
Rock your pelvis forward and back. See if you can end with a neutral - or upright - pelvis. This usually means the genitals feel a bit smashed onto the chair. Good.
Lift your shoulders high up, near your ears - get 'em all shrugged up. Be gentle but feel the tension? Now, draw them gently and slowly - mindfully - down toward your back pockets. Relax those shoulders down, away from the ears.
Rock your head slowly and gently forward and back. Notice how heavy it feels? See if you can find the sweet spot where your head feels light, almost weightless.
Engage both arms all the way from your shoulder to the tips of your fingers by reaching gently for the floor. Feel your arm engaged. Breathe into that feeling.
Tuck your chin just a bit and lift your spine from the crown of your head, as if someone were tugging on a high ponytail. This engages the spine.
If you want more, press gently down onto the floor with your feet, attempting to press evenly, ball and heel, while still being able to lift the toes.


This is the only photo I could find that shows what I'm talking about. 

The first one on the left: Seated Mountain Pose. 


3 to 4 second inhale. 3 to 4 second exhale. Follow the breath from the back of your throat all the way to the pelvic floor. Feel your body expand on each inhale. On each exhale, lift gently up through the crown of the head, relax the shoulders, relax the belly, relax the pelvic floor.
Hang out with yourself, watching your breath, doing the work on the exhale. Hang out until you don't want to do this anymore.
And release.

Namaste,

june

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Why Chair Yoga?


  1. Some people can't get down on a mat, or if they do, they have a heck of a time getting back up. 
  2. Pain in the body keeps so many underactive, meaning sure, they could move and groove but it HURTS. 
  3. Yoga sounds too scary. 
Can you think of other reasons to do chair yoga? 

Harold, not using real names here, has neuropathy, or numbness, in his legs. He's 91 years old, by the way. Gladys is in a wheelchair and tethered to her oxygen supply. Frank can't straighten up. He walked in bent over, his angle about 90 degrees. Now it's 45 degrees and shrinking. 
 
Chair Yoga teaches students how to modify poses so the benefits can be received. Chair Yoga poses teach students how to listen to the body, accept limitations, and respect them. It's never about how far into the pose you can go; it's about moving and breathing mindfully. 

Pushing into a limitation such as tension, inflexibility, or pain is contrary to yoga practice. Oftentimes, the most flexible miss out on the journey because it's so easy for them to accomplish the full expression of a pose. Be grateful for your limitations. They are your teachers.