If you have shied away from yoga because you feel intimidated by the postures you see on the cover of magazines, you might be surprised to learn all the benefits of chair yoga.
Yoga has been shown to improve overall health. With this in mind, it’s no surprise that it can therefore lend its benefits to everyone – especially those with mobility issues.
- Improved Strength – As you gain strength, you will be better able to continue with hobbies and daily activities independently for many more years to come.
- Improved Flexibility – Chair yoga can help those with mobility issues to undertake activities that they have perhaps been unable to, such as reaching down to tie shoe laces or pick things up.
- Improved proprioception – Proprioception is the skill of knowing where your body is in space, and coordinating your movements accurately. This is particularly important in preventing falls.
- Reduced stress and improved mental clarity – Chair yoga can lessen the impact of chronic illnesses and pain. It may also help cope with feelings of isolation. Being calmer and more relaxed inevitably leads to a greater feeling of happiness and well-being, which everyone can benefit from!
- Opportunities to meet people and socialize – Joining chair yoga classes will also give you a venue to socialize and make friends.
- Improved stress and pain management – Chair yoga (and yoga in general, really) includes breath work, which can help people not only with stress management but also for coping and managing pain.
- An non-intimidating introduction to yoga – If you consider yourself pretty active but are new to yoga, Chair Yoga is just the thing. You don’t have to worry about getting up and down from the floor. And you will become familiar with the “language” of yoga, which will help with your comfort level if you decide to move on to a more traditional yoga practice.
Feedback from chair yoga participants
The most common feedback yoga instructor, Julie Moore, has received from students is that they sleep better, drive better…and that they feel they are doing something really good for themselves. They just feel healthier, which Moore attributes to the increase in circulation and stimulation of the lymphatic system. And they find they can relax more than they ever knew possible.
What to expect
If you show up for Chair Yoga class at Yoga from the Heart
, here’s what you will find: a beautiful room with natural lighting from an adjoining lanai, wood floors and soft music playing. There will be a few yoga mats laid out, each with a folding chair in the middle plus some additional props such as a block and a blanket just in case you need some additional support for the practice.
