Mindful Chair Yoga - A Complete Beginner's Practice (40 minutes)

Hello and welcome to Mindful Cherry Yoga .

This is a chair based yoga practice that emphasizes mindful awareness of body sensations .

While one engages in gentle postures and stretches that are linked with the breath .

Mindful awareness or mindfulness is the process or skill of paying attention to present moment experience with an attitude of curiosity and acceptance .

So throughout this practice , you will be cued or instructed to bring a curious and nonjudgmental attention to the sensations in your body .

Keep in mind that everyone's bodies are different and it is important to honor your body and its limits .

If any movement or posture causes you pain , it is wise to back out of the posture rather than trying to work through the pain .

So please feel free to skip any exercise .

Now , when you are ready , let's begin before we start moving and stretching .

Let's take a moment to calm our minds and settle into our bodies .

We can begin by sitting back , letting our body rest and be supported by the back of the chair , but making sure not to slouch , close your eyes if that feels comfortable for you and place both of your hands on your belly without trying to change your breathing , begin to notice any sensations of breathing that are present in your belly .

What sensations do you notice ?

Perhaps you feel the subtle and gentle rising and falling of your belly on each in breath and out breath , your hands on your belly may move slightly as your belly balloons in and out .

Or maybe you do not feel much at all .

And if so reminding yourself that this is ok , just note to yourself what your particular experience is .

There is no right way to feel here .

We're simply taking a moment to become more familiar with our breathing and our belly continue watching your breathing in your belly for a few more moments here .

Now , when you are ready , open your eyes , if they were closed , remove your hands from your belly and just rest in your chair , come to the front edge of your seat and establish yourself in a comfortable sitting position .

If you have any lower back pain , you could sit back in your chair , but try to keep your spine upright throughout the practice .

Now , sit up tall with a straight back , but without being too stiff or rigid , have your feet flat on the floor about hips with a part and have your ankles directly under your knees .

We can call this seeded mountain pose .

This will be our home base pose that we will come back to in between different stretches and movements .

Let's try some simple movements in which we coordinate our movement with our breathing in your seated mountain post .

Take a deep breath through your nose and raise both of your arms to the side and then up towards the ceiling as you exhale , lower both of your arms in front of you , bringing your hands together in front of your chest .

Let's try this again .

Inhale and raise your arms , exhale and lower your arms in front of you hands together .

Continue this motion at your own pace , raising your arms on the inhale and lowering the arms in front of your chest .

On the exhale , go at your own pace .

Feel free to close your eyes or keep them open .

Whatever is most comfortable for you , try spreading your fingers .

Now , as you raise your arms each time , notice the air flowing between your fingers also feel the sensations of your palms pressed against each other as you lower your hands down , know whether your hands are feeling warm , cool or somewhat clammy or sweaty at this time .

Just notice what it's like for you as you continue raising and lowering your arms at your own pace .

And according to your own breathing , now the next time your hands are together in front of your chest , keep them there and just breathe when you are ready , lower your hands to your lap and rest in seated mountain posts as you rest here .

Remember that throughout this practice , it is perfectly normal for your mind to wander and for thoughts and emotions to arise .

Each time you become aware of thoughts and emotions , acknowledging them , letting them be , and then gently bringing your attention back to the sensations in your body .

As you engage in various stretches and postures , let's try to stretch for the side of our bodies when you are ready , place your right hand on your right hip , breathe in and extend your left arm up towards the ceiling , breathing out and gently stretched to the right by leaning her torso over to the right slightly .

And also reaching your hand farther to the right .

Use your right hand on your hip to support your lower back as you stretch to the side , find a position that is comfortable for you here breathing naturally and notice if you feel any sensations of opening or expansion in the left side of your body , anywhere from your hips all the way up to your fingertips on your next inhale , slowly come out of the side , stretch and back to center and on an exhale , lower your left arm and rest .

Let's try the other side .

Place your left hand on your left hip , breathing in and extend your right arm up toward the ceiling , breathing out and gently stretched to the left by leaning your torso over slightly and reaching your hand farther to the left .

Remember to use your left hand on your hip to support your lower back as you stretch to the side .

Once again , finding a position that is comfortable for you and breathing here with the stretch feeling into any sensations of opening or expansion in the right side of your body , anywhere from your hips all the way up to your fingertips .

Now , on your next inhale , come out of the side stretch and back to center and on an exhale , lower your left arm and rest in seated mountain po This next posture is called eagle pose .

Begin in seated mountain pose .

Cross your right leg over your left leg , bring your arms straight in front of you parallel to the floor with the palms facing upwards , cross the arms in front of you so that your right arm is above the left , then bend your elbows and bring your hands up towards your face .

Snug the right elbow into the crook of the left , the back of your hands should be facing each other in this position , gently raise both of your arms up towards the ceiling until you feel a stretch in your upper back between your shoulder blades , breathe naturally and hold this position .

Notice how your body feels in this posture .

Let the muscles in your face and neck relax as best you can when you are ready , gently come out of the posture and back to seated mountain pose .

Pause for a moment and take a deep breath in and out .

Let's try the other side .

Cross your left leg over your right leg in a way that is comfortable for you , bring your arms straight in front of you parallel to the floor with the palms facing upwards , cross your arms in front of you so that your left arm is above the right , then bend your elbows and bring your hands up towards your head , snug the left elbow into the crook of the right , the back of your hands should be facing each other .

In this position , gently , raise both of your arms up towards the ceiling until you feel a stretch in your upper back between your shoulder blades , breathe naturally and hold this position .

Notice how your body feels in this posture , letting the muscles in your face and neck relax as best you can and now gently coming out of the posture and back to seated mountain pose , pause for a moment and take another deep breath in and out .

Notice how you feel overall at this time , let's try a stretch for our shoulders .

Take your right arm and reach it across your body to stretch your right shoulder , use your other arm to gently hug your right arm into your body to increase the stretch .

Keep your right arm relatively straight .

Breathe into the stretch in your right shoulder .

No , see if you can gently bring your left palm and your forehead together , reach your palm towards you and bend your head slightly so that your head rests in your left palm , be gentle with this and only bring your palm and forehead together if it is comfortable for you .

Otherwise , just stay with a regular shoulder stretch .

If your forehead and palm are together , bring your attention to the sensations of contact between your hand and your forehead .

How does it feel to cradle your forehead like this ?

What does your forehead feel like ?

And now on your next exhale , letting everything go and rest in seated mountain post .

Let's try the other side .

Take your left arm this time and breed you to crunch your body to stretch your left shoulder .

Use your other arm to gently hug your left arm into your body to increase the stretch , keep your left arm relatively straight .

It continues stretching here as you breathe into the stretch .

Now , like we did before , see if you can bring your right palm and your forehead together , reach your palm towards you and bend your head slightly .

So your forehead rests in your right palm .

Once again , if this feels too difficult , just continue with the regular shoulder stretch .

If your forehead and palm are together , once again , bring your attention to the sensations of contact between your hand and your forehead .

Being curious and interested in what it really feels like to cradle your forehead in this way .

And now on your next exhale , letting everything down and rest in seated mountain poles .

Let's try a simple stretch for a neck to start , take your right hand and reach over your head to hold on to some area on the left side of your head .

Now using your hand gently , bring your right ear towards your right shoulder , be gentle with your neck and do not force the stretch only move as far as what's comfortable for you .

Let your shoulders be relaxed as you do this and hold this next stretch and breathe naturally .

Notice how the stretch feels for you .

Acknowledging any sensations that arise and on your next exhale , slowly letting everything go and coming back up to seated mountain pose .

Let's try the other side with your left hand this time , reach over your head and hold on to some area on the right side of your head .

Now use your hand to gently bring your left ear to your left shoulder , hold this position and breathe naturally .

Notice how the stretch feels on this side compared to the other side .

And once again , acknowledging any sensations that arise feeling into the stretch and on your next exhale , letting everything go and resting in seated mountain posts .

Let's try a technique in which we coordinate our movement with our breathing .

This technique is called cat and cow stretches .

It is a good way to warm up the spine .

Begin in seated mountain poses and place your hands face down on top of your thighs , inhale and gently arch your spine as you push your belly and your chest forwards and look up slightly towards the ceiling as you exhale , round your spine , looking slightly down towards your belly button .

Let's try this a few more times .

Inhale in archer spine , exhale and round your spine .

Inhale , arch , your spine , exhale around your spine , inhale and come back to a neutral sitting position .

Take a moment to acknowledge any sensations arising in your body .

After these movements .

Let's try the same movement and add our arms .

Inhale , arch your spine , look up slightly and extend both your arms to the side as if you're going to give someone a big hug .

Exhale and round your spine as you cross your arms in front of your chest and look down slightly .

Let's try this again .

Inhale arch and open your arms , exhale round and cross your arms .

Continue this motion at your own pace .

Remember as you inhale , you are opening your arms and arching your spine forwards as you exhale , you are gently rounding your back and crossing your arms , go at a pace that is comfortable for you as you continue these movements , bring a curious attention to what you are doing with your body .

Where do you feel a stretch ?

What muscles are working ?

Just notice what it's like for you .

And now gradually bring the movement to a stop when you are ready and come back to seated mountain poses , close your eyes .

If you are comfortable and observe any sensations in your body at this moment .

Let's try a posture called boat pose .

Come to rest fully against the back of your chair .

Now , hold on to either the sides of the seat of your chair or the arms of the chair of your chair has arms , raise both of your feet out in front of you by straightening your legs , have your legs and feet together .

In this position .

It can help to tighten your abs slightly by reaching your belly bun back toward your spine .

In order to help hold your legs up , feel all the muscles that are working that allow you to be in this position .

Perhaps you feel a slight burning sensation in your thighs .

Now , lower your legs down slowly and rest .

When you are ready , come back to boat pose again by holding onto the sides of the chair and raising your legs and feet together out in front of you as you breathe in point , both of your feet and toes away from you breathing out , flex your feet and toes towards you .

Breathe in and point , breathe out and flex , breathe in and point , breathe out and flex .

Continue this series of motion at your own pace , coordinating your movement with your breathing and now let everything go and rest your feet on the floor .

Take a deep breath in your nose .

Now breathe out and completely relax the muscles in your thighs , cas ankles , feet and toes as you rest here , remember that it is normal for various thoughts and emotions to arise during the practice , some pleasant , unpleasant or neutral .

Try experimenting with neither pushing thoughts and emotions away nor grabbing onto them .

But instead recognizing them and just letting them be doing the best you can to bring a open and non judgmental attitude towards thoughts and emotions that come up for you and then gently redirecting your attention back to the sensations in your body .

As you continue to engage in various stretches and postures , let's try a posture to stretch our legs .

Begin in seated mountain pose and extend your right leg forward so that your right leg is straight and your heels on the ground with your toes pointing up towards the ceiling .

As you inhale , slowly , raise both of your arms and stretch them towards the ceiling .

Feel into the sensations of stretching in your leg , upper body and your arms breathe naturally and hold this position for a few moments .

Now , on your next exhale , slowly , lower your arms in your lap , but keep your leg extended .

When you are ready , we will try a gentle twist with our right leg still stretched out , bring your left hand to the top of your right thigh and bring your right hand to your right hip , inhale in place .

And as you exhale , gently twist your upper body to the right , as you look over your right shoulder , hold this twist and breathe naturally .

Notice how your body feels in this posture .

Where is your breath on your next exhale , slowly come out of the twist and bend your right leg back towards you .

As you come into seated , mountain pos take a moment to just rest .

Let's try the other side , extend your left leg forward so that your left leg is straight and your heels on the ground with your toes pointing up towards the ceiling .

As you inhale , slowly raise both of your arms and stretch them towards the ceiling .

Feeling into the sensations of stretching in your leg .

Upper body and arms breathing naturally and holding this position for a few moments .

Yeah .

Now on your next exhale , slowly lowering your arms in your lap , but keep your leg extended , we will gently twist to the left with our left leg still stretched out , bring your right hand to the top of your left thigh and bring your left hand to your left hip , inhale in place .

And as you exhale , gently , twist your upper body to the left , as you look over your left shoulder , hold this twist and breathe naturally .

Notice how your body feels in this posture .

How does this side compare with the other ?

On your next exhale , slowly come out of the twist and bend your right leg back towards you as you come into seated mountain poses , take a few deep breaths where you are and just rest .

Let's try some movements to strengthen our abdominal muscles during these movements .

It is important to tighten your abdominal muscles or your belly muscles slightly by reaching your belly button back towards your spine .

This tightening of the abs will make the movements easier and protect your lower back .

If you experience pain during this exercise , then feel free to skip this one out .

It is important to listen to your body .

Now begin in seated mountain pose , interlace your hands behind your head , let your elbows come out wide .

When you are ready , lift your left leg off the ground as you gently reach your right elbow toward the left knee by twisting your body .

Now come back to seated mountain pose with your hands behind your head as you were before .

Remember , there is no need for the elbow to touch the knee only go as far as it is comfortable for you .

Let's try the other side when you are ready , lift your right leg off the ground as you gently reach your left elbow towards the right knee by twisting your upper body , come back to seated mountain pose with your hands interlaced behind your head , continue these crisscross movements at your own pace .

Feel free to take a break whenever your body is telling you to do .

So , remember as you lift one leg , you are reaching the opposite elbow towards the knee of that leg .

Be sure to breathe as you do these movements , when you are ready , gradually bring these motions to a pause and just rest and see did mountain pose bringing your arms down ?

Notice how your body feels at this time .

Let's try a gentle forward , bend to stretch our backs begin in Seaton Mountain poses .

But now bring your feet and legs a little closer than hips with a part , have both of your feet flat on the floor .

And when you are ready , slowly hinge forward , bending your upper body forward towards your legs , allow your arms to hang down in front of you only bend as far as is comfortable for you .

If it feels ok for you , let your upper body rest against your legs .

Breathe naturally here , feeling the stretch in your lower back .

When you are ready , slowly come back up to an upright position .

Take a moment to just rest in seated mountain .

Both observe how your body feels after doing this forward fold , we will now do a gentle twist , begin in your seated mountain pose .

And when you are ready , cross your right leg over your left leg in a way that is comfortable for you .

Now take your left hand and hold on to your right knee and take your right hand and hold on to your right hip .

First , take a deep inhale and then as you exhale gently and slowly twist your upper body to the right and look over your right shoulder , continue to breed naturally as you hold this twist , notice what it's like to breathe while you are in this twist .

Where do you feel the breath in your body and on your next exhale , slowly come out of the twist and back to seated mountain poses .

Take a moment to notice how your back feels .

After this twist , we will now do the other side when you are ready , cross your left leg over your right leg in a way that is comfortable for you .

Now take your right hand and hold on to your left knee and take your left hand and hold on to your left hip .

First , take a deep inhale .

And then as you exhale gently and slowly twist your upper body to the left this time and look over your left shoulder , continue to breathe naturally in this twist .

And now on your next exhale , slowly come out of the twist and back to seated mountain pose .

Take a moment to observe how you feel .

Overall .

After doing these twists , this next pose is called victory pose .

Begin and see the mountain pose from here , bring your legs and feet away from each other .

So your legs are more than hips with apart , have your feet flat on the floor , with your toes on each foot pointed outwards slightly at a 45 degree angle , only move your legs out to a degree that is comfortable .

You should feel a gentle stretch in your hips .

Now , as you breathe in , raise your arms in front of you and up towards the ceiling with your palms facing each other as you exhale , bring your arms into a t position with your arms bent at a 90 degree angle and your palms facing forward .

This is victory pose .

Feel yourself tall , strong and confident in this pose .

Hello , everyone .

Thank you so much for joining me in today's 10 minute yoga reel sequence .

This will be a super beginner friendly sequence .

So if you're ready , let's jump right into it .

And if you don't feel comfortable with the real alarm , I highly recommend that you place a blanket over it and you'll be just fine start in a seated position with your legs crossed or however you feel comfortable , place your thumbs in the wheel , roll your shoulders back , lifting your chest up , settle into your wheel and take it deep inhale , relax , exhale , plant your feet into the ground with your thumbs in the wheel and lift your hips off .

Let's try stretching our upper legs and hips begin in seated mountain pose .

And when you are ready , cross your right leg over your left leg by placing the outside of your right ankle on top of your left thigh with your hands , you can hold onto the leg that is bent when you are ready , inhale in place .

And as you exhale , slowly , lean your torso forward , keeping your back relatively straight , lean forward , only to a degree that is comfortable for you observe where you feel the stretch in your body and noting any sensations that arise in this pose .

On each out breath , you can try leaning forward just a little more if that's comfortable finding a position for yourself that is challenging but not strenuous .

Reaching towards your limits , but never beyond them .

Relax your shoulders and neck and breathe naturally in this post , gradually come out of the pose and return your right leg to the ground .

Let's try the other side , cross your left leg over your right leg by placing the outside of your left ankle on top of your right thigh .

With your hand , you can hold on to the leg that is bent , inhale and place .

And as you exhale , slowly , lean your torso forward , keeping your back relatively straight as you did before finding a position for yourself that is challenging but not strenuous .

Relax your shoulders and neck and breathe naturally .

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Roll back without holding the wheel , bring your hands in front of your chest .

Keep crawling , feel the stiffness in your back , going away .

Continue to breathe here as we become more intimate and familiar with our own breathing .

You may quickly realize that focusing on the breath like this is not so easy and that your mind is already taken off into the past or future .

Many times , perhaps planning worrying or daydreaming , remind yourself that this is normal and completely , ok .

Each time you notice your mind is no longer focused on the breath , then recognizing what is on your mind in that moment and then gently letting it go .

This does not mean you need to push other thoughts away or shut off your mind .

Now , we're gonna take it one step further .

Reach back with your arms , plant your hands , your fingers are facing the direction of your feet , press your elbows towards each other .

We are kind of doing a real pause here .

Take a rest , roll down , crawl back up into the wheel , paws with your hand on the ground , place your left ankle above your right knee for some hip stretch .

Pulse roll back down , take a moment to rest .

Stay in a seated position for a few seconds .

Let's roll back into a wheel this time .

Bend your knees , plant your feet and plant your hands into the ground .

Now , walk a few steps forward with your feet , extending your legs and stay in the same position .

Just stroll back and forth , extend your legs and then bend your knees .

Take a seated position .

With your reel behind you , place your left ankle above your right knee , your thumbs are in your wheel with your ankle over your knee , crawl back six times , crawl back and forth .

Draw your shoulders back , expanding your chest .

Repeat the same .