Happy International Yoga Day! Yoga is a fantastic way to enhance physical health and overall wellness for older adults, and chair yoga is a great variation to make it a little easier to get into.
Yoga is an exercise form that focuses on stretching, breathing, and meditation. It provides a host of benefits to seniors who partake. It not only loosens tight, painful muscles but also helps reduce stress, lower blood pressure, and build strength and balance.
Regardless of all the positives yoga offers, rolling out a mat and twisting your body into all types of contortion poses may not exactly appeal to everyone. The fear of having to get up off the ground is real, is it not?! Luckily, there is a gentle type of yoga called chair yoga. It gives you the same benefits as regular yoga without needing to get up from the ground.
What is Chair Yoga for Seniors?
Chair yoga is an excellent way for seniors to reap all the health benefits of yoga. It also makes yoga more accessible to adults who have mobility limitations. Not everyone is comfortable or able to do all the up-and-down movements that are involved in traditional yoga. So, chair yoga helps to eliminate that restraint by having you sit in a chair instead of on a yoga mat.
The best part of yoga is that a vast number of poses, from spinal twists and hip stretches to chest openers and forward bends, can be modified so participants can do them while sitting in a chair.
As with any exercise routine or activity, you should skip any movement that causes pain or is too difficult. The number one priority is always to stay safe and comfortable.
If you’re unable to reach as far as the pose calls for, simply go as far as you can. It’s always best to do less to avoid injury. Over time, your range, flexibility and balance will improve, allowing for more fluid movements and longer stretches.
When doing chair yoga, be sure you use a sturdy chair that allows your feet to touch the ground. You don’t want a chair that will slide around or tip over easily when moving.
Benefits of Chair Yoga
A 2023 study published in the National Library of Medicine found that “participants had a significantly higher level of functional fitness and daily life activity scores” after starting a chair yoga program.
Here is a list of some of the benefits you could gain by beginning a chair yoga practice regimen:
- Improved strength and balance
- Reduced joint pain
- Decreased levels of anxiety and depression
- Better sleep quality
How to Get Started
You can find a lot of chair yoga routines online. Some wellness centers and gyms even offer online classes that you can watch and participate in right in the comfort of your home.
SilverSneakers, a fitness program available at no additional cost to many seniors enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan, offers several virtual and on-demand yoga and yoga chair classes for adults.
Here is a short 30-minute chair yoga course that will move your body through a series of yoga poses, movements for core strength, and balance exercises that will help you build endurance and improve flexibility. This class is designed to boost your mood and promote an overall sense of well-being. You can watch it by clicking the play button below.