Chapter 1

Checking Out Chair Yoga

IN THIS CHAPTER

Moving for health

Using a chair rather than a mat

Noting the benefits of Chair Yoga

Checking out a couple of simple Chair Yoga exercises

Getting up and down off the floor or a Yoga mat can be a challenge for some people. But no one should be left off the Yoga bandwagon.

For any number of reasons, you may choose to practice Yoga while sitting in a chair. Chair Yoga doesn't require that up-and-down flow you may find in other Yoga classes. You can remain in a seated position where you feel more stable - even safer - while still reaping some of Yoga's most significant benefits:

• More flexibility
• Increased strength
• Better balance
• Improved circulation
• Decreased anxiety and stress
• Reduced pain
• Better sleep
• Greater willpower

These benefits have been acknowledged over the years by not only Yoga teachers and students but also Western medicine itself.

Chair Yoga is just one approach or technique, but it may in fact be the smartest one. The key to making your movements truly Yogic is to synchronize them with your breath. That coordination keeps you relaxed and allows your body to benefit from the power of simple movements.

Harnessing the Power of Simple Movements

Sitting in front of a screen or in a line of slow-moving commuter traffic can render you relatively motionless for hours at a time. In fact, health practioners often warn about how being sedentary, especially sitting too much, is actually almost the same threat to good health as smoking is.

Yoga teachers and Yoga therapists alike talk about how much you can gain from the simplest of movements.Simple and safe movements can

• Build muscle strength
• Increase flexibility
• Increase bone density (in some practitioners)
• Lubricate your joints
• Improve your will power
• Decrease anxiety and stress
• Exercise your heart and lungs

You can read more about some of these benefits in the following section.

The ultimate objective is to avoid inactivity but, at the same time, proceed both slowly and thoughtfully. That's where Chair Yoga comes in. Although you can move in many ways, Chair Yoga may be both the perfect and the safest activity. It's also a great way to supplement other aerobic and strength training exercises.

If you want to hang on to a Yoga practice but find your body is making new demands, consider Chair Yoga. If you're new to Yoga and maybe feel too old or too inflexible, this approach may be an ideal entry point.

At the end of the day, Yoga - even Chair Yoga - needs to make you feel better. Listen to your body, don't allow yourself to endure pain, and most of all, have fun!

When a Yoga Mat Just Doesn't Work

The chair has a long history in Yoga. It's a traditional prop, often used for safety and support in the pursuit of the classic form of a pose. Great Yoga masters like B.K.S. Iyengar employed the chair by using innovative methods to help students move into otherwise difficult postures.

But Chair Yoga is something different. Popularized in the USA by Lakshmi Voelker back in the 1980s, it's more about making Yoga accessible to everyone. It's about finding ways for Yoga to accommodate the particular needs of the practitioner rather than finding ways for the practitioner to adapt to a pose. Chair Yoga is about practicing in a way that serves your fitness goals and makes you want to come back again and again.

Seniors need Yoga, too

Without a doubt, many senior centers have mat Yoga classes that are well attended by people in their '60s, '70s, and even '80s. These people use their mats in the traditional way, which means they get up and down off the floor at various points throughout the class. Some seniors, however, just can't do that. Chair Yoga provides an alternative for almost anyone.

Your body changes as you get older, and you may lose certain capabilities. Even in an average Yoga class, practitioners can't do the things they did when they were younger - at least not without the risk of getting injured.

Deskbound employees

Whether they're self-imposed or handed down by an employer, productivity demands can keep you at a desk for too many hours at a time. (Of course, many people willingly sit in front of their computers for extended periods of time, oblivious to the clock and the rest of the world around them.)

Chair Yoga provides a way to counteract all the negative aspects of sitting at a desk for long periods of time and receive the benefits of thoughtful movements without leaving the desk chair.

Leaving on a jet plane

If you find yourself sitting for long periods of time on an airplane, watching an in-flight movie or even splurging on a cocktail often just isn't enough to help you relax or bring the circulation back into your limbs. And space is always an issue on a plane.

These are some of the challenges faced by the frequent traveler. Chair Yoga can certainly offer relief to the tight and tense traveler

Yoga for expecting moms

All expecting mothers need to talk with their obstetricians about doing exercise. Knowing the things you should look out for or avoid entirely is critical.

This book doesn't deal specifically with prenatal Yoga. Chair Yoga, however, does offer the expecting mother some distinct advantages. Specifically, using the chair as a prop can help support body weight as well as bring the stability of the floor up higher.

The goal, of course, is to avoid any kind of pressure on the abdomen (including certain kinds of twisting), so listen to your body and your doctor when it comes to doing any physical activity - even Chair Yoga. Then, select the poses and movements you think would be beneficial.

The good news is that expecting mothers can certainly practice both breathwork and meditation from the comfort of their chairs. Both can reduce or eliminate stress and pain in your mind and your body.

Practicing yoga when you have limited mobility

Even people who have athletic Yoga practices find their abilities are constrained or deactivated from time to time. This typically occurs as the result of injury or illness. Chair Yoga is often a way for these people to keep practicing even though their range of motion is temporarily limited.

If this is you, be mindful of any warnings that may come from your doctor. But also remember that Chair Yoga is almost always a better alternative to complete immobility. A thoughtful practitioner can keep some parts of their body limber while allowing other parts to heal.

Enjoying the Benefits of Yoga

If you look at Yoga as more of a healing activity rather than simply a process of bringing your body into super-flexible poses, then the mental and physical benefits derived from a Yoga practice are definitely more important than how it may "look."

As we note earlier in the chapter, even Western medicine recognizes the power of Yoga, and Chair Yoga offers most of the same benefits.

Moving feels good

"Sitting is the new smoking" has almost reached the status of being a cliché, but it still resonates loudly. The impact of too much sitting - of too much inactivity - takes a toll on both your body and your spirit. Clearly, moving makes you feel better.

The implication here is pretty straightforward. If you're currently not moving around enough, adding Chair Yoga as a regular routine will yield returns. You may not readily see them initially, but they'll ultimately become wonderfully apparent.

Working the joints

Just by doing some of the most basic movements in Chair Yoga, you keep your joints mobile and well lubricated. The key is to not overdo it, so always listen to what your body's saying and stop moving when it's time.

Anyone can benefit from good joint health, but if you happen to have arthritis, you may discover some particular relief associated with certain movements. Some arthritic pain, for example, comes from joint stiffness, so movements that reinforce mobility and range-of-motion can help. Check out Part 2 for Chair Yoga movements that target the joints.

Stretching and strengthening the muscles

In general, Yoga contributes to muscle health in many ways. By adding Chair Yoga to your routine (or using Chair Yoga to continue your already established Yoga practice) you may be building muscle, maintaining and expanding your flexibility, and even improving your balance as you strengthen the muscles responsible for it.

Although not every Yoga movement is intended to build muscle, some movements and poses do achieve that. Perhaps you hold a pose to build strength or perform several repetitions (it's amazing how even the simplest movement can be challenging after a few reps).

Building some bone

Research tends to suggest that Yoga can increase bone density. This not only is important for anyone wanting healthy bones but also has compelling implications for those with osteoporosis-related diseases or those trying to prevent those types of conditions. (Loren Fishman, MD, who wrote the Foreword to...