Chair pose is a great warm up asana for all of our large muscle groups and focuses on our glutes. The arm movements may also be used to warm our upper body when practiced in a seated position in a chair.
When practicing in a chair, an armless chair that allows free movement of our arms works best.
We begin by standing/sitting straight and tall in Mountain Pose with our arms in prayer position. Our feet may be together or slightly apart for greater balance. Our head reaching toward the sky, and our feet and legs pressing down into the ground.
On our inhale, let’s drop our hands downward and then circle them around to meet above our heads, palms facing each other, our arms reaching up along side our head over our ears.
On our exhale, let’s bend our knees, being careful to keep our knees over our ankles, as we sit back as if sitting in a chair, keeping our arms along side our head.
We may practice with a chair behind us and almost sit in the chair to get the feeling of using our glutes to hold us and propel us back to standing.
On the inhale, let’s drop our hands and arms downward and circle back around to meet above our head, palms facing each other, our arms reaching up along side our head, extending upward, pushing downward through the ground with our legs and feet.
Exhale, bend our knees, sit back, feeling the power of our glutes.
Repeat 5 to 10 times . . . inhaling reaching and extending upward, exhaling with control bending our knees and bringing our elbows back into our waist.
To practice while sitting in a chair, let’s sit at the edge of the chair, dropping our arms downward and circling upward on the inhale . . . then leaning forward slighting, arms along side our head on the exhale . . . drop our arms and circle back around, palms facing above our heads. exhale, drop and repeat.