I teach Chair Yoga or Chair-Based Yoga

All Classes begin in a chair … and everyone may be doing something slightly different, as everyone find the variation that is right for them. The yoga moves are added to in steps and some weeks you may choose less steps or more.

All Classes begin with centring, seated mountain pose and the breath. The breath or pranayama as it is called in Sanskrit is vital. We all breath to live and mostly we are not aware we are doing it. Bring awareness to the breath can ‘improve’ how we breath but how we feel. We can use it to calm stress levels or to energise or even (and I need this a lot) to think more clearly. Autumn 2024 the theme for all classes is the breath!

Joint releasing is wonderful for keeping our joints moving. I use gentle somatic yoga movements to release tension and stiffness from fingertips to shoulders and toes to hips. This can be all seated or a bit of both. I usually add some cross patterning as it engages both hemispheres of the brain helping to keep the brain agile.

Releasing the Centre - I use somatic yoga to release the centre (some moves look like seated variations of Cat Cow or a Side Bend) as tension in the centre of the body radiates out to the periphery. I no longer have shoulder pain or hip pain by working from the middle outwards. Find freedom in the centre of the body helps the breath.

The Asanas or Yoga Poses Whether seated or standing for this section. There is a Sun Salutation as keeping agile is important, 2 or 3 yoga poses a forward fold and a balance. The chair based class will usually begin this section with more joint releasing or footwork.

Definitely Relaxation Learning to relax is important, not just the relaxation at the end but at the beginning too. Exercise is more effective when people are relaxed so beginning with a body scan, breath or slow moves is a lovely way to begin a class.

Learning to relax releases tension and stress and brings great peace of mind.

Meditation – for calm, for clearer thinking, for pain relief and more…Meditation is the ability to be able to focus the mind without any distractions; it is the act of being in the present moment, not lost in the thoughts of the past or worry about the future.

Sometimes we do a one minute meditation and often it is included in the breath or relaxation.