chair yoga

*Many of the poses being used start in mountain pose. There will be a link each time that this pose is used that will take you to a page explaining both standing and chair mountain pose.

Mountain (chair)

Cues:
  • Become aware of the four corners of the feet - the big toe mound, little toe mound and the inner and outer side of the heel
  • Feel the outside of the foot heavy and the inside of the foot light
  • Feel a long spine from tail bone to crown of the head
  • Engage the pelvic floor 
  • With a subtle contraction feel the belly button and ribs move towards the spine and the spine move towards the belly button and ribs
  • Allow the shoulders to fall back and down using a slight contraction at the bottom of the shoulder blades
  • Feel the neck lengthen and the chin to tuck slightly

extended mountain (chair)

Cues:
  • Find mountain pose
  • On an inhale lift your arms overhead up until the point you feel your traps (the muscle between the neck and shoulder) contracts

chest stretch (chair)

Cues:
  • Find mountain pose
  • Inhale the arms up overhead
  • Exhale bring the hands back behind the head interlacing the fingers
  • Inhale press your hands into your head and your head into your hands feel the neck lengthen and the chin to slightly tuck
  • Exhale keeping the core strong and the ribs tucked in move the elbows back opening up the chest

neck stretch - flexion (chair)

Cues:
  • Find mountain pose
  • Inhale the arms up overhead
  • Exhale bring the hands back behind the head interlacing the fingers
  • Inhale press your hands into your head and your head into your hands feel the neck lengthen and the chin to slightly tuck
  • Exhale allow your elbows to come towards each other while the chin drops towards the chest allowing the back of the neck lengthen

neck stretch - lateral flexion (chair)

Cues:
  • Find mountain pose
  • Inhale bring your right hand to the left side of the head
  • Exhale gently bring your right ear towards your right shoulder stretching out the left side of the neck
  • Inhale bring the neck into a neutral position and repeat on the other side

cat cow (chair)

Cues:
  • Find mountain pose
  • Place both hands on your thighs just above the knees
  • Inhale move your chest and chin forward arching the back while keeping the hips stable
  • Exhale drop the chin towards the chest and round the back feeling the shoulder blades separate

side stretch (chair)

Cues:
  • Find mountain pose
  • Inhale the arms up overhead 
  • Hold on to the left wrist with the right hand
  • Exhale bend the upper body towards the right side while keeping the hips stable
  • Inhale bring your body back to neutral and repeat on the opposite side

shoulder stretch (chair)

Cues:
  • Find mountain pose 
  • Inhale the arms overhead on an exhale bring the arms behind your back and interlace the finger
  • You can keep the arms bent or if you have great range of motion you can bring the arms towards straight and possible bring the hands away from the hips
  • As you do this pose you want the spine long with the ribs knitted in towards the spine
  • Allow the traps to come back and down and feel a stretch through the shoulders and chest

triceps stretch (chair)

Cues:
  • Find Mountain pose
  • Inhale your arms overhead
  • Exhale bend your left elbow placing your hand on your spine and place your right hand on your elbow pressing the hand down the spine
  • Ensure your neck is long by pressing your head into your left forearm
  • Ensure that your chest is open

twist (chair)

Cues:
  • Find Mountain pose
  • Inhale arms up overhead 
  • Exhale place your left hand on your right thigh and your right hand on the top of the chair twisting through the spine

Back bend (chair)

Cues:
  • Find Mountain pose
  • Inhale your arms up overhead 
  • Exhale place palm of your hands with the heel of the hands at the top of the hips and finger tips pointed down
  • Inhale lengthen your spine
  • Exhale keeping the length in your spine bend backwards with the hips stable

figure four (chair)

Cues:
  • Find Mountain pose
  • Inhale bring your left ankle on your right thigh allowing your hip to externally rotate and the knee to fall to the side
  • Engage the left foot curling the toes back towards the shin feeling a stretch in the outside of the left hip

forward fold (chair)

Cues:
  • Find Mountain pose
  • Inhale your arms overhead 
  • Exhale fold forward at your hips allowing your upper body come towards your thighs and your neck to relax and head to hang

halfway lift (chair)

Cues:
  • From your seated forward fold place your hands on your thighs and on an inhale lift your body up off of your thighs with a straight back and look straight forward

triangle (chair)

Cues:
  • The the seat of the chair towards you
  • Have your left foot pointed towards the chair and your right foot at a 90 degree angle with the arch of the foot lined up with the left heel 
  • On an inhale bring your arms up to shoulder height stretched out like airplane wings
  • Exhale tightening the core
  • Inhale reach forward with the left hand creating a lateral flexion on the left side 
  • Exhale bring the finger tips or palm of the left hand down to the chair keeping the right arm in the same alignment

down dog (chair)

Cues:
  • Stand facing the seat of the chair 
  • Stand just a little less than your arms length away from the chair
  • Find mountain pose on an inhale reach your arms overhead 
  • Exhale with your knees bent fold forward at the hips reaching the arms forward to the rest the hands on the chair
  • You neck should be extended so that your ears are in line with your biceps

standing forward fold (chair)

Cues:
  • Face the back of the chair not quite arm's length away
  • Find mountain pose on an inhale raise your arms overhead
  • Exhale with a bend in the knees, a strong core and a long spine fold forward at the hips placing the hands on the back of the chair

hamstring stretch (chair)

Cues:
  • Have the seat of the chair facing you
  • Finding mountain pose inhale and lift your right foot off of the ground place your right heel on the seat of the chair
  • Keep a slight bend in both knees 
  • Inhale lengthen the spine and tighten the core
  • Exhale bend forward at the hips you can place your hand on your thigh or you can reach further down the leg

high lunge (chair)

low lunge (chair)

Cues:
  • Stand facing the seat of the chair 2-3 feet away
  • Find mountain pose inhale and step your left foot forward to where the knee is a few inches in front of the chair and you can rest your hands on the chair
  • Exhale and begin to bring the knee forward