5 Chair Yoga Poses For That Butt-In-Seat-All-Day Problem You’re Having Right Now
by Tamara Jefferies
Currently, we’re spending all day staring at our computers, with our asses firmly planted in our seats for hours on end. And even for those of us accustomed to a more sedentary lifestyle, our bodies still feel more restricted than ever before. Putting aside time to exercise is great. But between working from home and homeschooling and trying to just get an adequate amount of sleep, finding the time to “work out” feels nearly impossible. So here’s a creative way to move your body with minimal effort: chair yoga.
Integrating some chair yoga poses (or stretches, if you’d prefer to call them that) into your work flow can help break up the monotony of the day and give your body a needed breather. And even if you don’t love yoga, it still might be worth a try, because, in addition a nice soothing stretch, yoga can increase muscle tone and bone strength, improve blood circulation, and decrease back pain. Plus, it helps us manage stress and anxiety.
So, here are a few simple Chair Yoga moves you can do right now to bring relief to both your body and mind.
1. To Stretch Your Back: Forward Bend
Begin seated, with a straight spine and your hands on your knees. Inhale.
Exhale and lean your torso forward and far as you can. Drop your head and relax your neck.
Close your eyes and take a minimum of five long deep breaths through the nose. Let your hands or fingertips rest on the floor near your feet if they reach the floor. Otherwise, simply let your arms hang.
To end, inhale and slowly raise your torso up lifting the head up last.
2. To Revive Your Spine: Cat-Cow
Cat-Cow is typically done on your hands and knees. To modify for chair yoga, sit with your feet flat on the floor hip-width apart and your ankles directly under your knees.
Begin with a straight spine and your hands on your knees.
Inhale and flex the spine forward. Your elbows will bend and come to your sides as you press your heart forward. Extend your chin forward.
As you exhale, flex the spine backward, rounding the back, bringing your chin down.
Press your palms into your knees to fully extend the arms.
On the exhale, close your eyes. On the inhale, look up. Continue flexing the spine back and forth for a minimum of five breaths.
3. To Relax Your Back: Spinal Twist
Start with feet planted in the same position, and hands resting on your knees.
Inhale, then exhale and twist your torso fully to the right, grabbing hold of the chair back to stabilize you.
Twist the neck as far as is comfortable, and look over your shoulder as far as you can.
Take a minimum of five deep breaths here. See if you can twist deeper with each exhale.
Reverse sides.
4. To Stretch Your Shoulders: (Half) Eagle
Eagle pose is a balance posture done standing on one foot. It’s great for building poise and confidence. For chair yoga, we do a modified version that focuses on the arms. You’ll feel a great stretch across your shoulder blades.
Stretch your arms out to the side, parallel to the floor, inhale.
Exhale and bring them in front of you, crossing the left arm over the right.
Intertwine the arms, bringing your fingers to rest on the palm of the opposite hand.
Lift the arms up until you feel the stretch between the shoulder blades. Hold.
Breathe long and deep for five breaths.
5. To Stretch Your Back and the Backs of Your Legs: Pigeon
Begin with both feet on the ground, ankles aligned under your knees.
Inhale and lift the right leg, bringing your foot to rest on your left knee.
Hold onto the ankle and knee of your right leg.
With a straight spine, lean forward as far as you can. When you find the edge where you can’t go any further, stop. Breathe long and deep. Alternatively, you can fold your arms on your legs and lean forward.
To deepen the stretch, let your torso relax and hang over your legs, arms relax at your sides. Drop your head and relax your neck.
To end, inhale and slowly raise the torso up, lifting the head last.
Alternate legs and repeat.
And if you want to, ya know, get OUT of that chair at some point during your day, here are a few more feel-good stretches you can try.
Tamara Jefferies is a So-Cal based freelance wellness copywriter. In her downtime, she’s testing out recipes from around the world or traveling and exploring new places with her partner. You can find more of her articles here.
