10 BEST chair yoga exercises with a physical therapist, Alyssa Kuhn & yoga instructor, Cheri Schultz

Transcript

welcome to the seated workout I am so excited because I am joined with a friend that I actually met on Instagram because she has so much amazing content especially with chair yoga so if we haven't met before my name is Alyssa I'm a physical therapist and I specialize in helping people with osteoarthritis and now I am joined with Sherry Schultz now Sherry is a yoga instructor yes hi everybody Sherry Schultz I've been a yoga instructor for over 18 years and I started specializing in cheerioca about eight years ago because I realized as we age it's a hard time getting up and down off the mat I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis over five years ago and I regulate my pain based on exercise and nutrition only and I feel it's imperative that we move our body every single day for at least 30 minutes yes absolutely and I'm so biased towards movement being a physical therapist so I love it okay for this workout you only need a chair it doesn't necessarily have to have arms but as long as it's something that you feel comfortable in we're gonna get started so I'm gonna give you a movement then Sherry's going to give you a movement and we're going to rotate back and forth for 10 exercises so let's get into it so for this first movement we're going to sit in a nice posture so make sure we're upright we're going to do a kick out so you're just gonna straighten that knee right out in front of you and then we're going to add a punch to it same arm same way and then from the side same arm same leg we're going to do 10 of these ready here we go so you're just straightening your leg out as much as you can one to make sure we're not rounding three make sure you sit up nice and tall four I'm going to tell you right now I am not great at counting hi six straighten that knee release some of that stiffness seven eight nice and slow and controlled nine and then last one Sherry what do you got for us okay I have neck stretches that's going to help our neck down to our shoulder area and all you have to do is bring that right ear to the right shoulder and what we have to do here is we have to hold it five to eight breaths so what happens is we're stretching that neck down to our shoulder area you see we hold our stress in two primary locations our neck and our shoulder and our back and we're going to work both areas today now slowly let's bring our head back to Center take a resting breath and now we're going to do the left ear to the left shoulder and we're going to hold it on this side and all we have to do is focus on the breath and forget the rest every time we exhale the muscle releases it stretches but it takes that long for the muscle to stretch for muscle memory so we can gain that flexibility now slowly and gently let's bring our head back to Center take that resting breath let's bring that chin up towards the sky we're going to tone and strengthen our throat here in yoga we don't lift our weights we lift our own body weight that's how we gain strength and flexibility all at the same time as we breathe in and we breathe out now slowly and gently let's bring our head back to Center take that resting breath shoulders back back straight let's just drop our chin to our chest so we can focus on the back of our neck sewing yoga whatever we do to the left we do to the right whatever we do forward we do backwards and right now we're just focusing on the back of our neck as we breathe in and we breathe out now slowly and gently let's bring our head back to Center take that resting breath now let's just lubricate our neck and our shoulders so right here to right shoulder slowly rotate towards the back go towards the left and again to Center and let's keep it going we'll just do three on each side just take your time do not be in a hurry your goal is just to feel the stretch on all four sides of our neck that we just took the time to stretch and flex and when you get to Center take your time no hurry we'll bring our head back to that upright position and we take that resting breath let's do the counter pose left to your left shoulder slowly rotate towards the back the right and again to Center and let's keep this rotation going remember to keep the shoulders soft because sometimes as we do this rotation those shoulders come up towards our ears just roll them back just to release and relax them as we breathe in and we breathe out and when we get to Center again take your time no hurry we'll bring our head back to that upright position and we take that resting breath all set here very relaxing okay now we're going to move down to the lower body so for this one if you're sitting at the edge of the chair all you're going to do is you're going to walk your feet out to the side and then come back in I like to call this an out and in because what this is doing is adding in some sideways Movement we spent so much time moving forward we are going to do 10 reps of these by the way starting now we spend so much time moving in a forward direction we don't really get a lot of sideways or backwards movement unless we're conscious about it now your hip moves in three directions forward sideways and backwards those muscles are incredibly important for knee health for back health for hip health so it's incredibly important that we add in some sideways motion I believe that we have four more four so we're not necessarily sliding your legs I want you to just pick them up so your feet are hovering off the floor three more go just as wide as feels comfortable for you two and then last one okay for this one we're going to work on our fingers a lot of times as we age we get arthritis in our fingers in the pose I'm going to show you is called spider pose and all we have to do is bring our fingertips together elbows out to the side and all we're going to do is we're going to press on the fingertips and we're just going to hold it here just for a couple breaths be gentle be kind Don't Force the pose just feel the stretch and then we coil to release it and again press on the fingertips only nice and easy nice and gentle let them stretch then we coil to release again press and hold let them stretch this is so good especially right we're texting we're on the computer let's do it again press and hold right if we play an instrument if we need a point if we're knitting all of the above right just to stretch the fingers it's so important right remember lotion is lotion to the joints and we've got to keep them moving even if they're sore right it's about moving them I understand because of the arthritis because I feel it in my fingers as well press and hold let's do one more coil to release and one more stretch let those fingers stretch for you always feels good and then we coil and we can just move them just to get that movement back okay excellent okay now we're gonna go back to the legs what we're going to do is go into a March but I'd like to add the upper body into this too so it challenges coordination a little bit challenges your brain also brings in some core so what you're going to do first is just do a March so just get comfortable in this position try not to lean back as you do this but now what I want you to do is at the arm so if the March feels okay just go up as high as you comfortably can now you're going to add opposite arm opposite leg now you don't necessarily have to reach all the way straight up what you can do is just reach out in front of you especially if you have maybe stiff worse sore shoulders reaching out in front of you can help keep that at Bay if you can though try to get as close to Straight Ahead as you can now this is a controlled movement think about those core muscles try not to lean back if you meet you just focus on lifting that foot off the floor just get some motion through the fronts of those hips try to control your breathing as you do this this is more about control than it is about speed try to elongate that arm as you lift that opposite knee up let's do eight more eight try to make that arm as long as you can even if you're coming out front make that arm as long as you can sixth five four three on these last two challenge yourself to get that knee up just a little higher reach a little longer and then last one reach and lift excellent oh that felt great thank you Alyssa okay for the next one is called cat Cow and what we're gonna do is we're gonna stretch our back from the top of our shoulders all the way down to our tailbone it's the second area where a lot of us hold our Stress and Anxiety so all we have to do is bring our legs hip width apart knees are in a line with the ankles to help those knees we put our hands on our knees for support and now we're going to do the cow we do the cow by extending the chest and lifting the chin and when we do that this is what happens we put that Arc in our back you see that Arc okay that's what allows the back to stretch and we just look up at the ceiling we can softly close our eyes and we just hold it here and we breathe and every time we exhale those muscles up and down our spine are getting stretched we're stretching across our chest and we're breathing that's all we focus on we breathe in and we breathe out we breathe in and we breathe out just one breath at a time we hold it a minimum of five to eight breaths since it takes that long for the muscles to release breathing in and breathing out now let's take one more deep breath and exhale and slowly and gently we come back to a seated pose take that resting breath now we'll do the counter pose it's called the scare cat we round the shoulders we pull in the tummy pull that belly button towards your spine and then we drop the chin towards the chest and as you can see now we're stretching the back in the opposite direction the counter pose we're stretching across our shoulder blades up and down our back but we're holding our tummy tight we can get a Core pose here to help with our balance our stability because when we have a strong core we get a strong back and vice versa and we focus on the breath keep holding that tummy tight but don't hold your breath we want that muscle memory we want that back to stretch in both directions as we breathe in and we breathe out let all that fiber stretch across your back down your back across your shoulder blades now let's take one more deep breath and slowly and gently be kind to your back come back to a seated pose take that resting breath now we're going to do three cows and three cats one breath one movement okay let's begin inhale to cow extend the chest lift the chin and then exhale to Cat round the shoulders hold in the tummy and drop the chin and again let's inhale to cow extend the chest lift the chin and then exhale to cat we round the shoulders hold in the tummy and drop the chin and one more let's inhale to cow extend the chest lift the chin and then exhale to cat we round the shoulders hold in the tummy and drop the chin and then we come back to a seated pose I love it okay we're gonna actually stay with working that back especially some of that rotation something we don't get a lot throughout the day a lot of times we're just in this forward position looking at a screen but we also have to get some rotation to work the muscles that are responsible for that so what we're going to do is you're going to step out to the side now as I step out to the side I'm going to reach with that same arm but in an opposite direction so it's going to look like this you're going to step and reach step and reach and I want you to think about reaching out at about a 45 degree angle it's not a direct twist you're taking your chest with you as you do this it's not just a Twist over to the side take your chest with you turn your head and you're reaching up just as high as you can again try to elongate that arm as you do this we're getting a nice stretch all the way down getting some rotation through that back upper backs tend to get really stiff especially if you spend a lot of time sitting again about slowing control hold for just a couple of seconds to elongate that arm let's do six more so you're gonna step out and reach step out other side and reach if you can you can even straighten that leg behind you so you get this nice line or if you need to you can just take a simple March out to the side whatever feels good for your hip excellent after this one we're gonna do one more each side like I said not great Atkins so sometimes we do a few extra let's do one more step and reach excellent great okay we're gonna work on our arms and our shoulders a little different but we're gonna hold the poses so let's begin by bringing our arms down by our side bring them up towards the sky bring those Palms together bring it down to Heart Center we're going to stay right here but now we're going to interlace the fingers and we're going to do the inside out and we're going to just stretch those arms and remember feel the stretch and you might feel a slight discomfort and that's totally normal because what you're feeling is the tightness in the muscles that's why we hold it in any yoga pose we stretch multiple muscles we're stretching the fingers the hands the wrists the arms the shoulders you're holding your tummy tight to protect the back and we're breathing again holding it for five to eight breaths you're doing fabulous just stay away with me don't hold your breath keep breathing now let's bring those arms above your head and stretch and reach for the sky and remember to do your best forget the rest that's my tagline don't worry what it looks like right if you have to bend your elbows a little bit that's okay but you're holding the pose that's the important part of yoga because the yoga meets you right there those muscles are stretching every time you exhale they're releasing for you we're stretching the sides of our body now when our arms are above our head it stretches our lower back and we're breathing through it one breath at a time now take a deep breath and get some length and we're just going to bend to one side it doesn't matter what side you've been to right we hold it we're stretching our waist our back our ribs our rib cage and again arms shoulders hands fingers wrists a lot of muscles it is just not one muscle when we hold the yoga pose that's what makes it so Dynamic and can be practiced by anybody at any age now let's come back to Center take a resting breath now take a deep breath in again get some length oh we have to stretch the opposite side the pose and the counter pose and we breathe right just focus on the breath do your best just breathe wherever you're holding the pose those muscles are stretching for you you're gaining strength and flexibility all at the same time I'm so proud of you let's come back to Center release the fingers Point them up towards the sky bring those Palms together bring it down to Heart Center and normal sitting pose and a resting breath okay all right we're going down to those feet for a second if you're sitting on the edge of the chair sit up nice and Tall what I want you to do we're going to start to work with those ankles a bit I want you to raise up on your toes so you're lifting your heels just as high as you can we do want to go for height on this one hold for maybe a second or two then what you're going to do is then in turn lift your toes off the ground you may feel some action in your shins that's what we're looking for so now we're going to cycle through those so now you're going to lift your heels up get them as high as you can and then you're going to lift those toes up holding for about a count of one to two if One Direction feels stiffer you can hold that a bit longer and now rotate lift those toes try to get some height in those toes this is this muscle in your shin is really important for walking to keep your foot from dragging on the ground raise up and lift those heels working those calves and then raise those toes if you feel tight in this position where you're raising those Toes that is something to work on or even in this position where you're trying to raise your heels your ankle Mobility is so important for a lot of different things for squatting for stairs in particular walking up hills downhills so you have to make sure that your ankles have the right range of motion now of course the toes aren't going to lift as high as the heels do but they should be at least about an inch or so off the floor your heels are going to lift much higher lift those toes now we're just going to cycle through three more repetitions you're going to lift those heels try to get a little bit more height this time and then you're going to come down and lift those toes feel that shin muscle really start to work two more lift those heels and then lift those toes and last one raise up and lift those heels and then lift those toes okay Jerry how do we finish it off all right it's a hip flexor stretch and I'm going to stay right here boy can I feel those in my shins our hips are the tightest muscle of our entire body because as we age we sit more so they tighten up and sometimes the piriformis it pulls on our lower back but this is a pose that can be done every single day sitting in any chair okay so we're going to start with the right leg there's three levels you do whatever level your body is talking to you today okay so here's right over left now you can stay right there if you can cross your legs that's level two but if you can bring the ankle to the knee right that's level three now wherever you're at we put our hands in a comfortable position we don't want any tension and we Bend at the waist and when you can no longer Bend any further you just just bow your head in and you just surrender and so what we're doing is we're stretching our hip flexor and our lower back at the same time and like I said our hips are their tightest muscle especially if you sit more than you move right I mean we know how important it is to keep the body moving every day for 30 minutes but if your hips are tight and you're feeling that tension in your lower back just do this pose sitting in any chair and we just breathe remember we hold it five to eight breaths just breathe in and breathe out that's all we focus on one breath at a time one pose at a time breathing in and breathing out now let's take one more deep breath so now we're going to drop that right foot to meet the left and then we always bring our head up last take that resting breath but we have to do the other side where I have to balance both sides okay left over right that's level one you can stay right there if you can cross your legs that's level two if you can bring that ankle to the knee that's level three wherever you're at put your hands in a comfortable position Bend at the waist when you hit that resistance point you just bow in right here and surrender again stretching out the left hip and the lower back and just focus on the breath don't hold your breath I know you're going to feel that discomfort right especially in our hips because they're tight but the premise of yoga is to hold the pose and breathe through the discomfort we never Force so push opposed we just hold it until we feel that slight discomfort so we know the muscle is stretching for us and again we hold it a minimum of five to eight breaths as we breathe in and we breathe out let's take one more deep breath now drop that left foot to meet the right and we always bring our head up last great job everybody excellent okay so I hope that you enjoyed this workout now if you want to run through it again run through it one to two more times to really get to know the movements really Master those movements pick one or two that maybe were the most challenging for you and start incorporating every single day especially that last one if sitting cross-legged is difficult for you it can be hard to put on socks put on shoes if your hips feel really stiff so I do have another video on how to sit cross-legged but if you want to find out more information about Sherry and chair yoga and follow her I'm gonna put her information Down Below in the show notes so go click on that description and I just want to say thank you so much and I hope that you watching right now you feel so much better you feel relaxed limber and ready to take on your adventures sharing any parting words yes hey thank you so much and remember with yoga that's something you can do every single day you can do the stretches right like multiple times a day just like Alyssa said do this video a couple times a day right get your day off to a great start and then you won't feel that tightness that stiffness I want to thank Alyssa so much thank you for having me here and we hope we have enhanced your overall well-being and health today