May 25, 2020
Hello Yoga Friends,
This week’s online yoga resourcing and support includes chair yoga. I recall that when I was in my yoga training apprenticeship, a more experienced yoga instructor who was much younger than me and very bendy said she had come to love chair yoga after she had a back injury. This opened my eyes to chair yoga being much more than I had taken it to be. For some, chair yoga is always the way to go; for others, how can it be an enhancement to your practice? In the name of self care, think about ways to sneak a little seated yoga into your day.
1.Take your seat: Space and Length:
Find a comfortable seat in a chair with legs uncrossed. Notice your posture and breath. Without trying to control, start watching both the length and the space in your spine, and then do the same with your breath. What happens? Does anything shift? A little homework for off the mat/chair: what would happen if, the next time you feel strong emotions taking you off-center, you started noticing a little space between you the observer, and the feelings? Can both aspects of you contribute to the best possible outcome?
2. Warm up: Yoga for Hands, Fingers and Wrist Care:
Enjoy this 11 minute practice with some really cool stretches that we all need in these digital times: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxC4LhOrMFw
3. Breath focus:.Breathing Exercise for Strong Lungs:
Expand your lungs’ capacity with this short practice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LzjY3-_YqE
4. Foundations: Chair Yoga Poses for Low Back Pain:
Enjoy this gentle 8 minute practice https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qBmuc1BbuA&t=3s
5. Guided yoga class:Gentle and Grounding Chair Yoga Class:
Enjoy this calming 48 minute practice. Note the deep hip stretch at the 20 minute mark. Do you hear the cat starting at the 23 minute mark? I also love the demonstration of warrior poses starting at 25 minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_l0zfFq_Z4
6. Guided Relaxation: Loneliness and Connection; a Guided Meditation for Coping with Social Isolation:
Please enjoy this sweet and supportive 12 minute meditation that both acknowledges the collective challenges and also points us to deeper connection. Find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gI_Z-nNc8X4
7. Intention:
What intention or focus would you like to take with you into the rest of your day or evening? What focus or just one word will support you at this time? My phrase today is ‘being with what is’. Also, while I’m having a good day right now, I heard a question recently and I am still pondering it: “Can you have a bad day well?”
8. Namaste:
And finally, let us take a compassionate bow to each other, and to each one on the planet. Namaste: the divine light of consciousness in me honors the divine light of consciousness in you.
Thank you for tuning in to this yoga moment, and blessings to you and your loved ones,
Heather Harmony
