Yoga is often portrayed in the media using visuals of people standing on their heads or lying on the floor in some twisted position. No wonder, people get the impression that one has to be really into it to practice yoga. What they don’t know is that yoga can be practiced by anyone, even by handicapped and old people. One type of yoga such people can pursue is called chair yoga, one of the least physically straining practice of yoga.

What is chair yoga?

It is not really some type of yoga, which came from the Indian culture. It is called such simply because the practitioner uses a chair as support to practice yoga positions. Those who practice chair yoga don’t need to lie on the floor or stand for a long time or do some contortionist positions. With a chair as props, certain yoga positions become easier to do for practitioners. That is because chair yoga is designed for those who are not so capable of doing those things. They are the elderly, the disabled, and the injured.

Aside from the disabled and elderly, who else can engage in chair yoga?

If chair yoga is designed for the disabled and the elderly, why can’t younger and more physically able people do it? It can be done by practically anybody. Pregnant women can do it as well as people who have health problems. They just have to make sure that their yoga instructors know everything about their condition.

Parents can also do chair yoga with their kids; that way, they get to exercise as well as spend time with each other. And who else can practice chair yoga more often than those who are virtually glued to chairs? They are the office workers who stair at the computer all day, the commuters and frequent travellers who spend significant time in transportation vehicles, and of course, students who have to wait for their professors in class.

What are the benefits of chair yoga?

Like the practitioners of regular yoga exercise, those who have practiced chair yoga can attest to the good physical effects of chair yoga. Because of its meditative practices, chair yoga reduces stress levels, helps you concentrate more easily, and gives you a more balanced mental state. By relieving stress, this type of yoga also removes one of the factors that induce over-eating; thus, it also helps one reduce weight. It can increase one’s flexibility and endurance. Chair yoga can also prevent or slow down the progress of cardiovascular and bone diseases such as osteopenia, osteoporosis, and scoliosis. Plus, it is proven to improve the health conditions of people with asthma, high blood pressure, fatigue, anxiety, carpal tunnel syndrome, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, diabetes, and vertigo, among others.

What basic chair yoga exercises can one practice?

Chair yoga exercises are easy to do because they are commonly breathing, meditation, and stretching exercises. One basic technique is deep breathing: You place your hands on your ribs. Slowly inhale while feeling your rib cages expand, then slowly exhale while slightly pulling your abdominal muscles in. Another is the neck stretch combined with deep breathing: Take a deep breath as you tilt your head back to the fullest but comfortable degree you can, then exhale as you tip your head forward and down until your chin touches your chest. And there’s the twist where you hold the back rest of the chair with your right hand, while you sit on the chair’s front edge. Put your left hand on your right knee. Inhale deeply and then exhale as you slowly twist your torso as far as you can comfortably.