Improve your Memory! Mind and Body Coordination - Kickstart Chair Yoga Therapy w/ Sherry Zak Morris

Hi, are you ready to kickstart your yoga practice? Well, if you've been sitting too long, or lazing around too much, or just need a structured program to get you back into your yoga groove, then this series is for you. This is a kickstart program that has seven different practices. Yes, you can do seven different practices one day at a time, or just mix them all up. You'll find that they're easy, accessible, and guess what? They're fun. Hi, I'm Sherry Zach Morris, and I'm a certified yoga therapist, and I am the founder of Yoga Vista. And I welcome you to this practice. It's a seven-day challenge. Each class is about 15 to 25 minutes, and we focus on lots of different themes. We'll focus on posture, and balance, and back care, and movement, and mobility, and fun. This program is based on chair yoga. We will do poses that are sitting down. We'll do poses that are standing up. As always, you can pace yourself. You can stay seated the whole time. And when you're standing, you can hold on to the chair. That's the reason why we use a chair. It's our great companion to get us to be a little bit stronger. We are at the beautiful Rancho Guahome Adobe here in Southern California. Look at this beautiful environment. And every single one of these classes, we're going to have a different location. So you'll have a beautiful tour of the Adobe as you work out with me. Always remember to check in with your doctor or your health care provider to make sure that these kind of practices are good for your health condition. As we age, we know that we need to take good care of ourselves, just like this Adobe is so beautiful because it's been well taken care of. This series will help you do that. I hope you enjoy this beautiful program I created for you here at the Adobe. And I'll see you at the ranch. Namaste. We'll see you at the ranch. Namaste. Hi, Sherry here. In today's chair yoga class, we're going to focus on playfulness, memory, and fun. How about that? Well, we're here on the ranch. And today we're in the open space, as you can see. This is probably a place where the kids used to play, maybe even do cartwheels back in the day, or the grown-ups were playing maybe some outdoor games, some ball games. So yeah, we always need to have time in our life for play. As we get older, we always forget to play. And playing is fun. And the great thing about playing is that we don't have to be perfect, and we don't grade ourselves when we're playing. So we'll be doing a lot of different movements today. I challenge you to go as far as you can in any of the movements. But if anything doesn't feel good, then, of course, don't do it at all. But we're going to have some fun today. Are you ready to begin? Let's do it. So let's start our class just by finding ourselves in that nice, quiet spot. So if you want to close your eyes for a few moments, feel free to have yourself nice and upright in your chair, or scooch back and use the back of support. You know, whenever we're using the back of the chair, we're not powering up those core muscles. So do the best you can. A couple deep breaths. Nice and long. Breathe in deep. Good. And flutter your eyes open. All right. Well, let's warm up a little bit. So just take your hands and give them a good shake. Yeah. Because guess what? We're going to start with the hands first. Yeah. We're going to do a little bit of playfulness with our fingers. It's also for our dexterity. So we want to make sure we can pick up those fine little things, and we can turn a knob and all those things that we need to do in everyday life. So take your hands and open and close them a little bit. Good. Grab a hold of the steering wheel. Drive a little bit. Good. All right. Now we're going to use our fingers one at a time. Here we go. Thumbs up. Wait a minute. Peace and love. Boy Scout salute. Three fingers together, and we'll salute those Boy Scouts. Good. Then we'll do live well and prosper, which is two fingers, two fingers. The thumb is snugged in there. Once you have that, turn them into scissors and do a little bit of cutting. Good. And then we're high-fiving everybody. And then a wave. And then a knuckle wave. The knuckle wave is my new favorite. Good. Okay. Let's do the other side. Thumbs up. Wait a minute. Peace and love. Boy Scout salute. Live well and prosper. Remember, you're trying to tuck in that thumb as tight as you can. Turn them into scissors. A little dexterity, huh? Yeah. Good. Back to high-five. Wave. And then the knuckle wave. Good work. Now take your shoulders and roll them around. Good. We'll be doing a little shoulder pattern. This one's called cactus opposites. It uses the right and the left side of our brain, which, of course, makes us smarter because we're balancing both of our analytical, logical side and our creative side together in the same pattern. And there's a little bit of memory to it, right? Coordination as well. Yeah. Okay. Arms are going to be in cactus. So you can start in a low cactus if that's feeling good for your shoulders today, or a little higher cactus where it's a little bit more open-hearted, right? Now we're going to take one hand to the opposite shoulder. It doesn't matter which one. You can follow along with me. Good. And back to the center. And then the opposite. Good. And back to the center. Now we're going to turn the head the opposite way of where our hand is touching. Good. You got that. And then the opposite. Good. You got that. And then release it. And then just shake those hands out. Swing them around a little bit. Good. All right. Now we're going to do the legs. So here we go. Cactus. We're going to take one hand. Opposite leg. Back to the center. Opposite leg. Good. Back to the center. Turn your head the opposite way. Back to the center. And the opposite way. Good. Back to the center. Swing it out a little bit. We're going to combine both of those patterns. Do you remember them already? Yes, you do. Here we go. Cactus opposites. Touch a shoulder. Back to the center. Touch a shoulder. Back to the center. Turn your head the other way. Good. To the center. Turn your head the other way. Good. To the center. Touch the opposite leg. To the center. Touch the opposite leg. To the center. And again, touch the opposite leg. Turn your head and lift the leg. Oh my gosh. I threw something in there. Good. And the other side. Good. Good work. Swing those arms. And how about crisscross and then a hug. Yeah. Good work. Good. Now we'll incorporate a little bit of the upper and lower body coordination. We're going to do a sequence I call John Travolta. Back in the 70s, he was the disco king, right? And a famous move he did was always pointing his fingers, right? Like that, right? So we're going to take our pointers, touch them together. And we're going to take one hand high like this, one hand low. Yeah. Good. Then we'll touch the fingertips again. And we'll go the opposite. Good. And then again. This time we're going to look up at the top pointer. Up we're looking. Back to the center. And we're going to look up. Back to the center. Now we're going to look down. Look down. Back to the center. And look down. And back to the center. Good. Now we're going to kick out a leg. So we're going to kick out. Good. To the center. Kick out. To the center. Good. We're looking up. Look up. To the center. and look up to the center and yeah look down look down to the center and look down to the center good work shake it out a little bit and how about a march yeah we can get a lot of exercise by just sitting in our chair if we march good job and then release it all right our next pattern is going to be picking fruit the concept is that we're going to be reaching up to the top of the tree and we're going to be doing lots of good things with our fruit and guess what we get to eat it at the end this is a pattern for coordination memory and fun of course we're here to play right so if you screw up don't worry about it we're going to take one hand I'm going to reach up to the top of the tree grab that fruit take it out to the side and if you want to do that little sway envelope you'll lean and drop it in the basket good and we'll do that again so we'll reach up we'll grab we'll lean a little bit and we'll drop in the basket good to the other side reach up grab it lean and drop it good and again reach grab lean and drop good now we'll give it away to a friend so we're going to reach up grab take it out in front open your palm and give it away good let's do it again reach up grab and this time if you want to lean a little bit and give it away good all right other side reach grab give it away and this time we're going to lean into that reach grab and lean into that good give it away all right we're going to drop it on the floor you ready reach up grab oh we dropped it that means we've got to go down towards the floor pick it up good and again reach up grab we dropped it we got to go down pick it up all right other side reach up grab we dropped it we're going down grab it and last one reach up grab and we dropped it go now pick it up all right now we're gonna go sideways the low hanging fruit take one hand we're gonna reach way over there good grab it now you can take a bite good and again reach grab take your bite other side reach grab bite and one more reach grab and take a bite good job now you think you're over with this sequence but guess what it's going to get a little more challenging are you ready okay we're going to do both arms and the same pattern so it looks like this reach grab out to the side drop it in the basket good now we're gonna do it in front so here we go reach grab out in front give it away good and again reach grab to the floor down we go here we go and crisscross reach grab and the bite good and guess what there is one more you think you could do it this one's challenging we're gonna be doing something opposite on the right side and the left side of our bodies we can do this this is a lot of brain power and a lot of basically coordination we're gonna reach up we're gonna grab one's gonna go out to the side the other one's gonna go out in front and remember we're dropping here and we're giving away here that means the palm is down here and the palm is up here okay let's do it the other side so we go reach grab got that good back to the center reach grab keep doing it and if you're screwing up just laugh right remember we're playing good I think we need to do two more just to make sure you're gonna get it right there you go good and reach grab drop and give it away good and then shake it all out good work see all those patterns that really helps with your memory and especially when you do things that match your mind and your body together you really get the biggest benefit so take your legs out a little wider and we will do our windshield wipers as always which helps us when we're sitting a lot especially when we're doing chair yoga a lot we get a little tense and tight in here we use these muscles or we don't use these muscles either way we need to open them up stretch them out get a little prana flow get a little blood flow in them good and coming all the way back to to a straddle position we're gonna come into another pattern this one is called the Charleston back in the day since we went to the disco era let's go to the Charleston era it looks like this we're gonna bring those knees in and out right and when we do that we're gonna go the opposite with the hands so the knees come in the hands crisscross and then they open and they go like that good and if you can crisscross your hands the other way all the better yeah this is a pattern isn't it upper and lower body doing different things good and see if you can go a little faster good now bring your knees together and we'll do the Charleston with the knees out good and then we'll go in good good so good for the hips to open up like this so good for those inner thighs you know those inner thigh muscles are very important muscles for holding your pee they're part of your pelvic floor actually go a little faster and release it so it's really important to get those hips moving in and out especially right so you ready to stand up and do some nice sequences standing up some playful sequences then come on up good bring your chair in front of you we're gonna do a sequence I call star falling star twinkling star and supernova so here it goes we're gonna first come into star so the legs are a little bit wider maybe a little wider than the back of your chair we're gonna take the arms all the way out wide so we are basically in a nice star position how's that feel BKS Iyengar a very famous yoga teacher says you cannot be depressed when your armpits are open right take your palms facing up how does that feel yeah don't you feel that energy coming in that life force coming in good palms are coming back flat and now we're gonna do falling star so just take it off to one side and tilt good back to the center off to a side and tilt good back to the center let's do one more round nice lateral bends for your side body good back to the center and a tilt good and back to the center walk yourself back together so both feet are together because we're gonna do a balancing star position now this is called twinkling star so taking one leg out doesn't matter which one and the foot is facing forward make sure those toes are going right straight forward we don't want them out to the side and we don't want them turned in facing forward once you've got the balance how's it feeling in your standing leg does that feel good you're holding on remember if it feels okay shoot the matching hand all the way up you are now in twinkling star as you shake the fingers and those toes just shake them out a little bit good if you want to go into supernova you can tap the chair or let go and really go for it and if you want to go for the super-duper snow but you can just twirl around but I'm not gonna do that one today good oh I'm challenging my balance because I could feel that good and come back to the center and how about a little hip movement a little skiing good and we'll take it to the other side standing up nice and tall one leg is out remember toes face forward they don't go out they don't go in they go forward because we're getting a very important muscle group by doing that those are your hip stabilizers good reach it up you're in your twinkling star so twinkle-twinkle you can start to tap the chair and come into supernova and just keep that challenge going just do it you can do it good and then release it and how about you're skiing a little bit and use your poles good and then release it so if we are talking about going into our youth let's go into our cheerleader pose okay so this one's a great fun pose and it's imagine you have your little pom-pom in your hand right so the outside hand is in cactus holding your pom-pom and your inside leg is lifted up good now we're gonna crisscross so we're gonna take the elbow towards the knee and the knee towards the elbow good and then we're gonna reach it all the way out good and then we're gonna bring it in on the inhale and exhale we'll take it out we could do it two more times inhale and exhale and inhale and exhale next time we're gonna hold that little crunch so hold it don't bend over just hold it nice and strong remember those nice core muscles good four three two one and let it go good and release it okay other side you're doing good you're doing good having fun I hope good outside arm hold in your pom-pom inside leg is lifted we're gonna inhale get close exhale stretch it out inhale tight exhale stretch inhale tight exhale stretch that's one we're gonna hold it so here we go hold it you got it you're nice and tall and straight good four three two and one stretch it out very good and then how about march it out good so a little playfulness we're gonna go into the hula hoop so feel free to let go of your chair if you can take a wider stance as you know it's always a good thing for stabilizing your balance and as you put your hands on your hips you're just gonna bend those knees and roll around into that hula hoop how's that feeling good be careful of your knees right you don't have to bend your knees very much on this one roll it around very good and back to the center come back in and how about a couple marches we're gonna go into the ragdoll pose ragdoll is one of the more challenging poses for those who feel very stiff and very unsteady but this one is very important because it starts to loosen up your joints so I want you to take one shoulder and roll it and the other one and roll it right just kind of getting loose here maybe your elbows and your fingers and your your wrists are kind of going with that and then bend your knees a little bit and kind of swirl around in your hips that movement like you're just a ragdoll that's just kind of flopping around that motion good that's the playfulness that we need to have right that's the fluidity that we need to have in our bodies and the more we do it there more of those joints will be able to cooperate good now do the hula since we're here and we're playing the hula hula good to the other side the hula good and how about the wave the wave let's climb the rope so take it down and we're gonna climb the rope all the way up climb it climb it climb it all the way up can you go on your tippy toes let's just try tippy toes up there come down tippy toes up there good we could do it one more time reach up yeah and reach up good and great work everybody well come on down to the chair we'll wrap it up all right we'll end it with one more pattern how about that patterns are fun because when we get it right we get so proud of ourselves and when we get it wrong we just laugh at ourselves so it's all good and we get to practice a lot so we're gonna take one foot point it in the matching hand point it and we'll just go pointing and flexing a few rounds yeah easy-peasy huh both sides working together huh good and then here we go top and bottom working together all right now let's do one foot pointed and the hand is flexed so it goes the opposite right like the toes and the fingertips are trying to touch each other good then we'll do the other side here we go toes are up fingers point and we're going back and forth all right do you know where we're going next yes we're gonna do both so this time you're gonna have to scooch back okay because we're gonna lift up both legs you don't have to go very high okay we're gonna lift up both legs and we're gonna point the toes and we're gonna point the hands and we're just gonna flap like that that's easy huh good all right now we're gonna do the opposite we're gonna point one foot and we're gonna point one hand and the opposite foot flexes and the opposite hand flexes and then we paddle it's like a paddling motion you got that feeling good huh easy yeah all right you get ready for the last one a little more challenging here we go take your feet down take a little break Oh how about stomp a little bit good shake your hands a little bit okay here we go one foot points and the hand flexes right so we're doing the opposite on that side but the other foot flexes and the other hand points so everything is going the opposite and then we alternate how's that feeling that feeling a little complicated don't look down just trust that your body's doing the patterns and see if you can do a little faster and then stop and check your work you got it good work good job everybody well thanks for joining me on this chair yoga class for playfulness and mobility and dexterity I hope you had a great time I hope you come back often and remember it's really good for your memory to be working different parts of your body especially upper and lower right and left side in different ways so until the next time namaste