The Best Benefits Of Chair Yoga For Seniors
Chair Yoga For Seniors can be beneficial for older adults who struggle with balance or who want to build strength while reducing the chance of falling. Chairs can add stability or make the exercise easier for beginners.
Chair Yoga For Seniors can be done by a physical therapist, or yoga instructor, or by following online or book tutorials. Participants typically sit in the chair and stretch and hold poses, or stand and use the chair as a balance point.
If you’re a senior looking to try chair yoga, read on to find out if it works, what the benefits are, and some of the best chair yoga poses to try.
BENEFITS OF CHAIR YOGA FOR SENIORS
Because chair yoga is safe and gentle, it has many variations that are suitable for people with restricted mobility. Chair yoga for older men provides many benefits of being active without taking any risks. These benefits include:
Increased flexibility:
Flexibility is a key factor in most everyday activities. That’s why it’s so important to flex, bend and twist daily. When you practice chair yoga, you’re pushing your body to maintain and enhance flexibility and improve overall mobility.
Muscle strength:
Even though it’s slow and steady, chair yoga builds muscle with each pose, improving mobility and balance, and protecting your body from injury.
Better balance, coordination, and proprioception:
Proprioception refers to your awareness of how your body moves in space. For example, in a chair yoga sequence, you need to move from one pose to the next. This improves your proprioception which improves your overall balance and coordination.
Reduced stress:
By its very nature, yoga requires you to pay attention to your breathing and how you move, taking your mind off of stressful thoughts. The poses are almost meditative and help you relax.
Reduced pain and better pain management skills:
Exercise of any kind releases endorphins. Endorphins are our body’s natural pain relievers. Multiple studies have shown that exercise including yoga significantly reduces the amount of pain medication taken by people suffering from chronic back pain. Not only does yoga help you focus on your breathing, but it also helps you manage pain.
Better sleep:
Regular exercise (including yoga chair positions) helps to regulate your body’s circadian rhythm and improve sleep quality. About half of yoga practitioners say they sleep better when they focus on quality rather than quantity in their sleep. Chair yoga allows you to push yourself to the limit without pushing yourself too hard or too uncomfortable. This helps to set you up for a restful night’s sleep.
Helps boost confidence and reduces depression and anxiety:
According to extensive research, yoga has been shown to improve symptoms of depression in people of all ages, including those over 65.
Some Basic Chair Yoga Exercises for Senior
Warm-Up: Candle Pose: Start by sitting upright in your chair with your palms facing forward. Place your hands above your head, elbows slightly bent, and clasp your hands together in a ‘namaste’ position. Do this for 30 seconds, or however long you like. You can do this a couple of times.
Raised hand pose: Sit up straight in a chair with your back facing forward. Lift both arms straight up above your head while keeping your feet flat on the floor. Hold for 30 seconds and do this three times.
Star Pose: Start in a sitting position and slowly raise your hands straight over your head but not out of your reach. Stretch both legs out wide until you’re in a sitting star-jump position and hold it for 30 seconds. Repeat a few more times.
Spinal twist: Start with your back facing forward in this pose. Once you’re seated, slowly twist your torso to the side and try to keep your shoulders aligned with your chair’s arms while facing backward. Keep this twist going for 30 seconds, then slowly face forward again. Repeat on the opposite side. You can do this a few times depending on how comfortable you are.
Best Chair Yoga Poses To Practice
There are a variety of yoga poses that you can do sitting or sitting in a chair.
- Seated Mountain Pose: Mountain Pose is an excellent chair yoga pose to begin with. Sit on a chair with your feet on the floor. Engage your core and focus on your breathing. Take a deep breath and lengthen your spine on the second inhalation. On the third inhalation, ground into the chair with your sit bones. Roll your shoulders down and back and release your arms at the sides. Stay in this pose for a minute, concentrating on your breathing and gently engaging your core.
- Seated Cat-Cow Pose: Sit in a chair with your feet flat on the floor and your spine straight. Put your hands on your knees, just above your thighs. Take a deep breath and lift your pelvis forward. Arrange your lower back, arch your back, and lift your heart towards the sky. When you exhale, circle your lower back, making room between your shoulder blades, and tuck your chin towards your chest. Do this five times.
- Seated Chandrasana Pose: Chandrasana, on the other hand, is a lateral bend to stretch the sides of the body. Begin by sitting in a chair with your feet on the floor. On the inhale, hold both your hands up to the ceiling.
On the exhale, take your left wrist in with your right hand. Then, take your right wrist in with your left hand. On the exhale, stretch your left wrist over to the right. Return to center. Do this five times.
- Seated Uttanasana Pose: Uttanasana stretches the back of your body forward. If you have hypertension, don’t let your head dip below your knees.
From a sitting position, place your hands on your thighs just below your knees. Your bottom should be flat on the chair. Fold forward until your elbows rest on your thighs, or if you prefer, fold forward so your torso rests against your thighs.
In this pose, rest for about 1 minute, then slowly return to your upright seated position.
- Seated Twist Pose: Twisting is great for opening up your spine, increasing blood flow, and helping with digestion. Take a deep breath and sit up straight. On the first breath, place your right hand on your left knee and place your left hand on the chair behind you. Hold this position for five breaths before taking another deep breath, this time back to the center, and repeat on the opposite side.
When doing seated twists, it’s important to be gentle on your body. Many people overdo these stretches, so don’t push yourself too hard, just go to the point where you’re comfortable with the twist.
Conclusion
Chair yoga is a beneficial exercise for seniors, as it helps improve flexibility, muscle strength, balance, coordination, and proprioception, reduces stress and pain, promotes better sleep, boosts confidence, and reduces depression and anxiety. Some basic chair yoga exercises include the Candle Pose, Raised Hand Pose, Star Pose, and Spinal Twist. Additionally, there are various chair yoga poses to practice, such as Seated Mountain Pose, Seated Cat-Cow Pose, Seated Chandrasana Pose, Seated Uttanasana Pose, and Seated Twist Pose.
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FAQs for Chair Yoga for Seniors
Q: What is chair yoga?
A: Chair yoga, also known as chair yoga, is a type of yoga that has been specifically designed to be performed while seated on a chair or supported by a chair.
Q: What are some benefits of chair yoga for seniors?
A: Yes, you can do chair yoga in the comfort of your own home with the help of a trained instructor or with the help of online resources and instructional videos. Chair yoga can help improve your balance, strength, flexibility, stress, anxiety, and overall health.
Q: Can chair yoga help prevent injuries in seniors?
A: Chair yoga can help to reduce the risk of injury by providing stability and support during the exercises, which can help to prevent falls and strains.
Q: Do you need any special equipment for chair yoga?
A: No, chair yoga doesn’t require any special equipment. All you need is a sturdy chair with no wheels and a smooth surface.
Q: Can chair yoga be done at home?
A: Yes, you can do chair yoga in the comfort of your own home with the help of a trained instructor or with the help of online resources and instructional videos.