Chair Yoga

Yoga while seated on a chair is a good way to have a gentle practice. The chair is a support that  allows modifications of many poses.

Start with a sturdy metal folding chair. Open the chair and place it on a yoga mat. This will prevent the chair from slipping during your practice.

A simple seated twist while sitting on the chair is a good start. Crossing your leg, so your ankle is on your opposite knee, and bending forward is an excellent inner and outer hip stretch. Try with a flat back and a rounded one. To create a gentle backbend, slide your buttocks forward on the seat, place your hands on the sides of the chair seat, and lean your upper back and head over the back of the chair.

Gentle poses are great for those stressful days when your strength of character gets you to practice, but muscular strength is lacking.

Mindfulness as meditation

Meditation time is all the time. While finding 15 minutes to do another worthwhile activity seems challenging, we can take the approach that meditation is now, each moment. Every second of living is a meditation. The concentration, focus and attention we call mindfulness is meditation. Through mindfulness we live neither in the memories (good and bad) of the past, nor in the anticipation or anxiety of the future.

We are familiar with mindfulness from things we do that are fully engaging, putting us in "The Zone". That is when all time ceases to exist for us, for a while. Accessing "The Zone" isn't relegated to physically demanding activities, it can be simply through taking a deep breath, bringing your awareness fully to this time and place, and being completely here, right now.

Mindfulness is a practice, just like yoga, and the more we practice the better we get. It is a life skill, and one we can practice every moment of our lives.