This blog post and video on Chair Yoga for Beginners is for my Father Phil.
Christina
Why I Created this Class
My father is the loveliest man. He is the most giving man I know, with the spirit of a wild horse.
The only thing that holds him back from experiencing life to the fullest is the wear and tear on his body he has accumulated from many years of working as a surveyor in the cold harsh winters of New York City.
As passionate at his job as he was, he would travel back to Queens on the A train with cracks and cuts on his hands and fingers from the long frigid hours in the cold.
For years, he ignored his joint pains, bouncing around large skeleton towers from beam to beam (with the jankiest of harnesses in the eighties until they supplied secure ones in the 90’s).
My Superman
My father is my superman.
He even helped build the new Freedom Tower and remembers feeling the ice breeze against his face 1100 feet up in the air.
This, of course, was an emotionally challenging experience for all workers involved.
His beloved elder brother, Uncle Johnny, built the original (and never forgotten) Twin Towers.
My father received a harness signed by the mayor then, Mayor Bloomberg. He and his hard working friends were also honored by signing their names on the first of freestanding columns.
Somewhere inside the walls of the Freedom Tower is written the words – PG DG 4E (for Phil loves Dee Forever). Dee is my mother.
After long hours and hard days, my father would come home, cook dinner (alternating days with my mumzy), fix something around the house, or take me to one of my basketball games (or plays) that I was in. He never missed a thing, his eyes always gleaming in the audience.
Over a million hugs and four muscle and joint surgeries later, I am begging for him to do yoga. Of course, given his aches and pain the idea seems unattainable. But, I know he can do it, because I have seen him accomplish amazing things!
I created this chair yoga for beginners video with my father completely in mind.
(This one’s for you dad!)
Why Chair Yoga is Perfect for You
This chair yoga class is perfect for the yogi that wants to move…but needs to move with care.
It’s perfect for the yogi that wants to keep pressure off the joints, yet feel the freedom and flow of a hatha yoga class.
In this video, we explore the range of motion in the upper body, legs and (lightly) the spine.
There will also be wrist and shoulder stretches (please enter and exit carefully).
We will explore linking the breath and the mind together as self study.
We will collect information about how our thoughts work and how our body moves.
Do this practice everyday and you will receive a noticeable change in your vitality.
I promise you.
All you need is a chair, an open mind, and a friend (that’s me!).
Let’s Dive into Chair Yoga for Beginners
Let’s get started and journey deep into the depths of the amazing you!
Please enter and exit each pose slowly, and, as much as possible, with the breath.
Please listen to your body and don’t do anything your doctor hasn’t signed off on.
A note of precaution if you are someone that can’t stand: There are parts of this video that demonstrate careful standing poses.
However, please do practice the breathing and seated pose.
Namaste my beautiful friends!
Chair yoga is useful for a variety of purposes! It’s great for people like me with chronic pain 🙂
Oh man, I need to do this because my knees are driving me crazy lately. Thanks for sharing this friend!
I have been wanting to try chair yoga. They have it on the screen at the dermatologist’s office whenever I go there but I don’t feel comfortable doing it in that setting. My living room makes much more sense.
I need this. I’ve been wanting to get into yoga and this looks like a great way to start!
oh i totally need to try t his, i love yoga so much i try and do practice at least twice a week~
Such amazing exercises to perform in a chair. This is perfect for immobile and mobile people to practice.
Would this be okay for a below knee amputee with a bad back? I would love to try something like this, I’ve been thinking of getting into Yoga but I need to know if it would actually work for me.
I will definitely try this. I’ve never been drawn much to yoga, but this is very interesting.
I love doing yoga and love to learn about new yoga poses! Thanks for teaching me some new yoga! I would love to try some chair yoga!
It’s truly a remarkable how yoga help us in such many ways we could ever imagine. Loved the post and the video so wonderful that we can easily follow it step by step all the way. Thank you for sharing such amazing yoga experience in a different way.
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge! These movements look a lot more achievable to me! Thanks for sharing!
Chair yoga sounds awesome! I’ve never tried to do yoga because I’m so busy with my working schedule but I would love to try someday Thanks for this!
such a great and fun idea! great warm for office or any other desk related long task. I’ll keep it in mind for myself too
I should be able to try this in about 2.5 months. Looks something like I can do at home while working so I’m excited.
that really looks so interesting. ive tried yoga a number of times but this cahir yoga is something new and exciting to try
OMG… i cant believe this.
This chair has the potential of changing people’s health in a magical way.
This is such a great idea for people that have difficulty getting into ‘traditional’ yoga poses!
What a brilliant way to make the benefits of yoga accessible for all! My mom has a bad back and I’ll absolutely be sending this her way! Thank you :).
I would love to do chair yoga. Looks like a easy was to get some yoga in!
Well I love this I have balance issues because I had a surgery in one of my legs and I haven’t done yoga since then.
These are amazing! My husband and I were just talking about how we wanted to try yoga but had no idea where to start!
I’ve never tried doing Yoga because my joints just don’t seem suitable for all that bendy stuff. This is on another level though and I am going to give it a whirl too.
This idea is much unique and new for me…i haven’t ever tried the chair yoga..but it seems much effective and interesting to do..will love to check this idea out..Thanks for sharing..Loved this..Great work…