Chair yoga pose is excellent for strengthening and building your lower body. It can help tone your thighs and buttocks, and overall improve your energy and virility significantly. This pose is actually quite tough to do and beginner's need to careful with their knees when practicing this posture.
The exercise gets it's name from the chair like position that is formed when you come into this pose. In classical fitness routines this pose is also used to help build the lower body and sometimes it is done by leaning against a wall. In yoga though stability is obtained via how the hands are placed, so pay special attention to this aspect. Since the full version of chair yoga is quite difficult, as I mentioned above, below in the practice section I have provided some nice modifications for you if you are just starting out.
Chairs For Desks
Before I jump in and give you the details of this wonderful exercise, I want to give you a few pointers on how to practice yoga safely. The most important thing to remember is that yoga is not a competitive sport and that it is all about you and you. So always listen to your body when doing yoga and don't push it beyond it's limits. Yoga is to be done gently and over time you will notice your skill and capacity improving. Forcing yourself into postures, you are not ready for, will most likely result in injury, which is the number one thing to avoid in any fitness program. Also, wait two to thee hours after eating before you do your yoga practice and make sure you wear loose comfortable clothing. Now let's get back to teaching you the great yoga chair pose.
How to do Chair Yoga Pose:
- Start by Standing up straight and placing your feet shoulder width apart.
- Next, squat down till your legs form a ninety degree angle at your knee joint.
- Then reach down and grasp your ankles by passing your elbows from the inside of your knees.
- Keep your head up and begin long deep breathing. If you get dizzy doing long deep breathing, just do normal breathing while holding the pose.
Duration:
- Start with about 15 Seconds and build up to 3 minutes if you can.
Benefits of Chair Yoga Pose:
- As I mentioned above, this pose is excellent for building up your lower body, especially your thighs and buttocks.
- This pose also promotes weight loss as it helps you burn fat.
- Done over time, the pose will help you build your energy and vitality.
Tips and Hints:
- Be sure to take a break when you need to. If just starting out your legs might not be strong enough yet to hold the pose for too long. So start out slowly and gently build up your capacity.
- You can find many more poses for toning your legs and thighs on Anmol Mehta's website as well.
- As a modification to the full chair pose, simply put your hands on your knees and bend down as far as you comfortably can. This modification will help you practice this posture and build up your strength over time.
- Always be careful with your knees when doing this posture.
Summary:
Chair yoga pose is a great exercise to integrate into your personal yoga practice. As it is a standing posture which does not involve any bends, it generally does not require a counter pose. When first starting this exercise, take a few days rest in between to allow the legs to recover. Once you become proficient though, Chair Yoga Pose can be done and enjoyed everyday.