Yoga: a chair-based practice for stiffness and calm

Step by step

1. 1

   Step 1: Start with the breath, because it is the half people skip

   Most of what yoga does for stress lives in the breathing rather than the shapes. Sitting tall, breathing in through the nose and out slowly for longer than you breathed in, four or five times. That alone settles the body and can be done anywhere.

   Learn more: Worry: a four-step pause when your mind will not stop
2. 2

   Step 2: Work the joints through their range, gently

   Neck turns, shoulder rolls, a gentle seated twist holding the chair, forward folds over the thighs, ankle circles, wrists and fingers. Move to where you feel a stretch, never into pain, and let the breath stay easy throughout.

   Learn more: Chair dance fitness: what it actually does for you
3. 3

   Step 3: Add balance work with the chair as your safety net

   Standing behind the chair with your hands on the back: heel raises, weight shifting, lifting one foot briefly. This is balance training with no real risk of falling, which is the only way most people will practise it.

   Learn more: Balance exercises for seniors
4. 4

   Step 4: Make it regular, and keep the calm at the end

   Ten unhurried minutes most days does more than an hour on a Sunday. Finish with a few minutes of quiet sitting rather than rushing off, since the settling at the end is a real part of it. If you have glaucoma, recent surgery, or unstable blood pressure, check which positions suit you first.

   Learn more: Sleep & recovery

All topics in this guide

• Worry: a four-step pause when your mind will not stop
• Chair dance fitness: what it actually does for you
• Balance exercises for seniors
• Sleep & recovery

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