Yoga in Practice

Support for "Yoga In Practice" is provided by the ETV Endowment of South Carolina.

Hi.

My name is Stacey and I will be guiding you in your practice today.

Sit well with your eyes closed and enjoy your breath.

Lao Tzu, the author of the Tao Te Ching said I have just three things to teach, simplicity, patience, compassion.

These are your greatest treasures.

So often, we push ourselves beyond what we are able to do, beyond what is healthy.

Chair yoga is a gift of simplicity and compassion meeting us where we are on any given day.

You can practice in your office, while traveling or really any place there is a chair.

Chair yoga slowly builds strength and flexibility over time without taxing us too much and invites us to be simple in our actions and compassionate with ourselves so that we can return to an inner calm.

Please open your eyes.

Let's begin.

Joining our practice today are Jan and Allison.

Please sit in your chair, make sure your feet feel grounded.

If you're feet do not easily touch the floor beneath you fold a blanket put your feet up on the blanket so the floor is raised up to you.

Close your eyes and place your hands on the mid point of your thigh.

With your eyes closed roll the shoulders back and feel length come up through the sides of your body.

Feel your sit bones rooted.

Feel your feet grounded.

Take a few deep breaths here just letting yourself soften and settle.

We take these few moments at the beginning of our practice to center.

To let go of your day as it has unfolded already, to put aside physical or mental tasks you have to do so that you can be fully present with the practice you're about to embark upon.

Open your eyes.

Slide forward slightly onto the front edge of your chair.

Make sure your feed are aligned beneath your knees and place your hands around your kneecaps.

As you inhale, pull against your knees, lift your chin, arch and look upward and then reverse around in to cat pose tucking.

And again, inhale, arch and open and exhale around.

We'll do that two more times.

Inhale and exhale.

This begin to warm up your back, your spine.

Inhale.

Look up.

Lift your chin.

Open the throat and one more time.

Tuck.

Chin in toward the belly.

Inhale.

Come back to seated and just make sure your feet stay grounded.

Release your hands down beside your legs.

Keep your shoulders lifted and your breath full.

As you inhale lift your arms up and out to the side.

Raise them overhead and then exhale lower the arms back down.

Follow your breathing.

Inhale and exhale, reaching for the sides of the room, really stretching open through the arms.

As you inhale rise up pushing down through your hips your sit bones.

Exhale.

One more time.

Inhale, raise up, and exhale, lower the arms.

Keeping your arms beside your legs, roll your shoulders backward and big slow circles here squeezing the shoulders toward your ears and carrying them all the way around.

This'll be a nice way to balance a lot of work that you may do on your devices.

Enjoy the breath.

Good and then just release your hands down,shake your hands out.

Plant the feet again.

Inhale, raise your arms over your shoulders.

Interlace your fingers above your head and turn your palms toward the ceiling.

Gently hug the arms closer to your head and breathe, pushing down through the hips to get a rebounded effect of lengthening up through your arms.

As you exhale lower your hands in front of your chest.

As the hands come forward push out through the arms opening space between your shoulder blades and now bring your chin down towards your chest, tucking in again guiding the sides of your ribs back opening your breath into your back body.

Inhale.

Raise the arms overhead again stretching up.

Release your hands, pull up through the arms and then spinning your hands out exhale lower the hands back down to your hips.

Raising again, inhale, follow the breath and exhale, lower back down.

Twice more.

Inhale and exhale.

And your last one.

Inhale, rise up and then when you bring your hands down sweep them around in either hold the back of your chair like Jan is showing or clasp your hands behind your lower back interlacing your fingers again.

Take a deep breath.

Lift through the side body.

draw the head of the arm bones back and then raising your hand slightly away from your back.

Once again lift your chin, gaze up toward the ceiling without tensing your neck or your brow and feel your chest open.

This is another wonderful way to combat working on the computer for a long period of time.

and then as you release, soften.

Take your hands to your legs.

Make sure your feet are underneath your knees and raise your heels up and down slowly a few times.

Just generating some warmth engagement in your calf muscles.

Good and then lower the heels and raise your toes this time working up through your shin muscles here.

This kind of getting some blood flow from your feet up your legs.

Good.

Now we'll alternate.

Lift your heels and then your toes.

Do that a few times and join the breath keep your good posture through your spine, through your torso and your core still remains engaged.

Good.

Last time raising your toes and then plant your feet down.

Sit up nice and tall and refresh your posture.

Please extend your right leg straight out in front of you and keeping your hands either on your left leg both legs.

Make sure you're far enough forward on your chair and then point and flex your right foot again.

If it's easier to lift the foot off your floor that is fine just point and move the ankle.

And then flex the ankle pressing the heel down into your mat.

Lift up through the spine and then lean forward.

As you lean forward you're hinging from the hip area and try not to round your spine as you do this.

Notice what's going on across your shoulders.

Keep your shoulders lifted onto the back and pressing your heel into the mat.

Drag your heels back toward the chair and notice how you're engaging the underside the backside of your right leg.

Inhale.

Rise back up.

Plant the right foot.

Change sides extending your left leg straight.

Lift up.

Now move the foot a few times point and flex the ankle.

That just feels really nice moving your foot.

If you're at your desk you don't have to have bare feet you can have shoes on here and now holds the flexion hands to your legs rise up and hinge forward.

Maintain that stretch through the spine press your heel down and draw it back.

Now with a straight leg pose, be very aware that you're not over stretching the back of your knee.

So if you tend to be flexible in your knee joints try to engage the muscles a little bit more and take the pose into the muscle instead of the joint itself.

And then inhale.

Rise back up.

Plant your feet.

Good.

Now open your feet apart.

You can turn your toes out.

Adjust your seat if you need to.

With your hands on your legs rise up through the spine and then hinge right from the front of your legs and bow over.

You can keep your hands against your legs if that feels more supportive or bringing your hands down onto the mat in front of you.

Bow.

Relax your head.

And if you have the strength and the flexibility just hold your elbows and let your arms hang down toward the floor.

Notice how good that feels in the stretch across your lower back.

Breathe into that back and let gravity assist you here.

And then release.

Place your hands down.

Pull yourself half way up.

Bring your hands to your hips and raise your shoulders and then rise to a Seated Mountain Pose.

Again bring your feet up underneath your knees.

Place your hands on your legs and close your eyes.

Once again bring awareness to the way you're sitting, the way your hips and sit bones feel grounded, the way your feet are connected to the earth.

Breathe in and out easily and just let stress and tension leave your body.

Come to the simple practice of breathing and then open your eyes.

With your eyes open please raise your right knee up to your chest.

Hold on to the knee and pull the leg up as high as you can to your chest and move your foot in circles, one direction and then reverse the direction of the foot and don't be surprised if you hear pops in the ankle when you do this.

And then released down.

Plant the foot.

Second side.

Raise your left knee up.

Pull up bringing any higher to your chest.

Shoulders back and move your foot in circles and reverse that turn.

You should just be feeling a nice stretch here again through the hip and the low back.

And pause.

Place place your foot back down.

Take Seated Mountain pose.

We're gonna run through two sun salutations here from a seated perspective.

So doing some forward bends and back bends.

Just a nice range of motion from the poses we've done already but combining them into one sequence.

So with your feet planted, inhale.

Raise your arms overhead.

Stretch up.

Bend forward.

Exhale Place your hands against your legs.

Inhale extended and look up and fold over again.

Bow your head.

Twice more.

Inhale.

Look up an arch.

Exhale and fold.

One more time.

Inhale.

Look up an arch.

Exhale and fold.

Lifting halfway hold your hips.

Lift your shoulders and rise to Seated Mountain.

Stay grounded in your hips and raise your right knee up to your shoulder.

Pull up against that knee.

Stretch your spine.

And then lower that foot down.

Reach around.

Either hold the back of your chair or clasp your hands around your back, taking a Seated Cobra position.

Lift your chest.

Look up toward the ceiling.

Open the front of your chest as you extend your arms long and then release.

Good.

For your left knee up to your chest, pull on to the front of the shin bone and rise up and then lower the left foot.

Inhale.

Raise your arms overhead Stretch for the ceiling and then sweep forward, bend over.

Place your hands against your shins.

Inhale.

Lift halfway Exhale.

Fold.

Twice more.

Inhale.

exhale.

Inhale.

Fold one more time.

Exhale and then lifting your arms, inhale.

Rise up to Seated, lifting your arms to the ceiling.

Join your hands and bring your hands right to the heart, Anjali Mudra.

Shoulders back.

Close your eyes.

Patience moving slowly with mindful awareness, then open your eyes and lower the arms.

We'll do the second side.

Inhale.

Raise your arms up Bend over.

Exhale.

Hands to your legs.

Inhale.

Lift halfway.

Exhale and fold.

Inhale halfway.

Exhale and fold.

One more time.

Inhale and exhale.

Bring your hands to your hips.

Pull through your shoulders.

Rise up to Seated Mountain Pose.

This time raise your left knee to your shoulder.

Pulling up, sit tall and then release the foot.

Seated Cobra Pose, reach around with your hands either clasp the hands are hold the edge of the chair.

Look up and create a back been here through your spine and then come back to Seated.

Release your hands and hold your right knee pulling your right knee up to your chest.

Sit up nice and tall and then exhale, lower the foot back down.

Plant the feet.

Raise your arms up and over your shoulders.

Stretch up fully bend forward.

Hands onto the legs.

Bow.

Halfway looking up, inhale, exhale and fold.

Inhale, halfway.

Exhale.

Inhale.

Fold one more time.

Push through your hips and your feet.

Raise up to standing.

Lift your arms up over your shoulders and Anjali Modra.

Bring your hands back down to the heart, pause, close your eyes.

Soften your skin.

Stay connected to the breath and to the Earth.

As you open your eyes release your hands down.

Like you to rise to standing.

We're going to adjust our chair now.

Move your chair to the end of your mat with the seat facing you.

Stand up tall hands up onto your hips and looked down, bring your feet up underneath your hips and stand about two feet away from the back of your chair.

Bending over, you can bend your knees here, squat down a little bit and place your hands on the top of your seat.

Bow over.

Now you can walk your feet back a little bit further just to deepen into the pose.

This is a version of Downward Dog using the chair.

Bending the knees if you need to particularly if you're pretty tight through your hips and hamstrings, but if you can, press the legs a little straighter, pressing the hands into the seat of the chair, feel the arms rise up and stretching back and up through your hips from your hips routing down through the feet.

Let's pause.

Hold the simplicity of the pose and enjoy what it's doing for you.

Good.

And then walk your feet in a little bit closer.

Raise your hands to your hips.

Lift your shoulders and rise up to Standing Mountain Pose.

Lower the arms.

Raise your arms out to the side and overhead.

Lower the hands again.

One more time.

Inhale.

Lift your arms up and then lower the arms down.

Hold your hips and step your right foot up onto the seat of the chair.

Keep the knee above the heel and then take your left hand across to the outside of your thigh.

Bring your right hand to your hip and twisted to the right.

Turn slowly all the way up through your chest and shoulders and then extend your right arm behind you.

Turn your head and look down that right hand if that's possible and just find the balance making your standing leg strong and then release.

Bring your hand back to your hips.

Turn forward.

Step off the chair with your right foot and let's change sides.

Bring your left foot up onto the chair.

Align the knee.

Stand tall and strong and bring your right hand across to your left knee.

Pull up and twist to the left.

And as you turn from the belly and across the chest, extend your left arm.

If you can turn your head enough to look down the hand do so.

This is balancing as well as a twist so focus your attention, focus your eyes.

And inhale, bring the hand to your hip, other hand, turn around and step down off the chair into Standing Mountain Pose.

Walk away from your chair slightly again and we're going to go back into Downward Dog.

So come through a squat.

Slide your hands down your legs.

Bending over, place your hands on the seat of the chair.

Bow your head down and walk your legs back a little further if you have that capacity.

You can keep the knees bent just raising up through the back of the hips or if it's possible stretch your legs a little straighter.

Extend.

Don't let the head drop but don't keep your head up either.

Just find where your neck is in line with the rest of your spine.

Good.

And then walk in closer to the chair again.

Lift your hands to your hips, pull your shoulders up.

Inhale.

Rise up to standing.

Good.

And release.

Let's adjust the chair again.

So turning your chair all the way around so the back of the chair is now facing you.

Put your right hand on the chair and turned sideways.

Look down.

Make sure your feet are parallel, sit bone distance apart.

And I'd like you to raise your heels up off the mat, balance on your toes and then come back down.

Do that again, rising up and then back down.

Now lift your left arm, raising out and then back down.

And then raise again both heels lift her left arm overhead and then you decide if you need to keep your hand against the back of the chair to steady your pose do so.

If you can stay up on your toes and also lift your right hand come up in balance.

Hold your gaze steady, stretch long and then release your arms and lower your heels come back to Mountain Pose.

Set up for Tree Pose now, standing on your right foot.

Tap your left foot to the side.

Turn the toe out and bring your left foot the sole of the foot somewhere along the inner edge of your right leg.

Can stay down by the calf or the ankle.

You have little bit more mobility here.

You can bring the leg up higher although that's absolutely not necessary.

Your left hand can come to the center of your chest.

And again once you've used the chair to help steady you, see if you can bring the right hand next to your left hand.

If you start to wobble, just put hand back to the chair and then release, Mountain Pose.

Good.

Shift the chair to the opposite side.

Keep the back of the chair facing you.

Put your left hand on the chair.

Plant your feet.

Shoulders back.

Inhale.

Raise both heels and lower down and both heels and lower down.

And now raising your right arm as you lift your heels inhale and lower down.

One more time raising the heels and your right arm.

Stay up on your toes concentrate and if you can raise your left arm with your right arm.

This is called Palm Pose, just stretching up.

It's actually harder than it looks.

And then as you exhale, lower the arms, lower the heels.

Come back with both feet planted.

Placing your left hand on the back of the chair, tap your right foot out to the side.

Lift the sole of the foot against your inner leg.

Find the best place for you, always asking what's going to be the most compassionate way to practice today.

You can bring your right hand to your heart.

If you feel balanced, bring your left hand to your heart.

Tree Pose.

Anytime you need the chair just use it.

And then exhale.

Lower your hands.

Step down Mountain Pose.

Good.

Please move your chair back to its original position facing forward in the middle of the mat and any time you're using a chair you definitely want it to be on a non-skid surface so the chair doesn't move as you're practicing.

Please sit forward onto the edge of the chair.

Plant your feet.

Roll your shoulders back and extend your right foot forward again.

Flex the ankle.

You might have to wiggle forward a little more and extend your left foot.

Flex the ankles, spread your toes and henge forward.

You can hold the edge of the chair if you want a little bit more stability here.

Spreading the toes, reach out.

It's not rounding over it's really bending from the hips keeping both your legs and your spine extended as you hold this pose.

Enjoy the breath.

Strong legs, open heart and then inhale.

Rise up.

Plant your feet beneath your knees.

Plant your hands on your legs, inhale, look up an arch and Round Cat.

Inhale and arch and Round Cat.

One more time.

Inhale and exhale then they come to Seated Mountain Pose.

Adjust your feet, rest your hands on your legs, roll your shoulders back and close your eyes.

Work on just a good seated posture here.

Engaging the core to keep your spine long.

The shoulders back and I relax any tension you may feel across your forehead, your eyebrow.

The edges of the eyes, the sides of your lips.

Bring your mind to the base of your nose where you feel your breath enter and leave.

And like a cushion let your mind rest on the flow of the breath.

Quiet the mind.

Feel the weight of your hips, feel the soles of the feet.

Press through the crown of your head Find the space between your breaths and the space between your thoughts.

There is no greatness where there is not simplicity, goodness, and truth.

Invite you to remain here just seated quieting your mind.

When you're ready to move onto the next task on your day simply open your eyes slowly.

Drink in the light and the colors of the room numb you.

Please fold your hands together.

Thank you for practicing with us today.

Namaste Support for "Yoga In Practice" is provided by the ETV Endowment of South Carolina.

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