Chair Yoga for Seniors & Beginners | Simple Mindful Movements Can Go A Long Way

So if you find yourself sitting on a chair or on your sofa a lot of time then some simple movements can help really open up the body, really open up the mind, bringing back focus, bringing back clarity, a little bit of energy. So join me now from your desk chair or your sofa or just your dining room chair and let's do some gentle movement together. My name is Carrie, I'm from The Frog Project and I'm really happy to be with you today. So please sit yourself a little bit forward, this will mean that your spine is free from any back of the chair, the muscles of your back are working for you and if you have little legs like I do then bring beneath your feet some sort of cushion or blanket just to give yourself a bit of support so you can be comfortable with the feet on the floor. Let your hands just rest on your lap, maybe palms turned up, take a big breath in and a long breath out. Two more just like that. Good, one more breath here. Lovely and then let's let the hands dangle down beside you, give your shoulders a little bit of a roll as you sit just a fraction taller. Then on your next breath in, raise both arms all the way up and as you breathe out, bring your right hand down to your left knee and your left fingertip slightly behind you. Breathe in, sit nice and tall and as you breathe out, twist yourself around. Good, come to the centre, bring your left hand to the right leg and let your head and neck get heavy and then breathe in, round up through the spine, keep the arms going all the way up and then as you exhale, this time we'll twist in the opposite direction. Inhale, nice and tall and as you breathe out, twisting around a little bit more and then gently bring that right hand to the left knee, let the head and neck get heavy. Good, roll yourself back to the centre. One more time, arms stretch up, then maybe look up towards your fingers and as you exhale, bring the hands down, bring them slightly behind you. Press into the surface behind you as you open your belly and your chest gaze goes up and as you exhale, bring yourself back to the centre. Take your left hand, bring it palm up on the right thigh. Inhale, stretch up through the right hand and as you exhale, gentle bend to the side. Take one more breath here and then slowly bring yourself back up. Swap the hands, inhale, lift through the left and exhale over to the side. Good, back to the centre, release the hands down, give those shoulders a little roll and now we'll get into the hips. Lean to the right side, bring this left knee up, just gently rocking it to the middle and out to the side and if there's any more space, maybe taking hold of the foot and the knee and the hand. Good, whatever feels nice here, just finding some movement for the hip. Then bring the leg to rest on your bottom leg, give that ankle a little bit of a roll. Bringing the arms back in here, palms face up, stretch open. As you breathe out, bring your right arm underneath your left, maybe taking hold of opposite shoulders or if there's space, twiddle your forearms around each other. Breathe and lift and as you breathe out, bring your elbows in towards your chest, softening a little bit forward, head and neck nice and relaxed and then slowly unwind here. Open the arms back out and bring that knee back in for a squeeze and then bring it down to the floor, other side, lean, lift, rock and roll. Anything you like here, maybe starting to make up your own movement, only if it feels better. Bring the leg onto that bottom leg, maybe a little extra bonus roll for the ankle. Open the arms out, palms face up, bring the right arm under the left, holding opposite shoulders here, giving yourself a hug or wrapping your arms around each other. Breathe and lift, breathe out, folding over, take your time, notice how you feel. Then slowly on a roll back to the centre, stretch the arms out, give this leg a little squeeze, a little rock and roll and bring yourself all the way back to the centre. Shoulder roll, wrist roll, maybe little ankle roll. Then bring the hands down, sitting nice and tall, take a big breath in and a long breath out. Two more times, fill up, let go, one more. When you're ready blink open your eyes. Well done, hope you enjoyed that little wake up in the middle of the day, a little desk yoga or sofa yoga or whatever you need. Basically just moving, breathing, feeling better. So join me for more of these videos or if you'd like to try a live class, we have chair classes just like this twice a week on a Tuesday evening, on a Wednesday lunchtime and you are very welcome to come along. They are all online, very simple to access. If you need help just send us a message and we'll get back to you straight away. More yoga, feel better, breathe better. See you soon.