Hi and Welcome to your Journey into Yoga! I’m Avery Rich and am so happy to have you along for the ride!

I have to admit, I’m a bit excited about today and what is to come for the next several episodes! The reason being, the next postures we will discuss on the journey into yoga are ones that you can do while seated anywhere! Sitting in a chair? YES

sitting at the office? YES - at the dinner table? yes to that too. Passenger in a car - this is for you too!

Why, you may be asking, have I decided to do this chair yoga series? Well, for many of us this is a time of year when we find ourselves inside more. By inside, I also mean in our cars more because it may be too cold to walk or use bikes. The weather can be one reason why we may be sitting more; another may be work schedules. Coming off of a busy fall season and then December and all of the Holiday action, January tends to be a get to work month. Not only do we have to pay off those big visa bills but we may also be looking ahead to perhaps a winter holiday and preparations to do so may have to happen.

One of the benefits of postures we can do while sitting is that they are very accessible to us most of the time. There is no need to carve out a special space or time do these poses. They are low commitment but high return and designed to be done almost anywhere anytime.

SO kicking off our chair yoga series …

is a seated in a chair forward fold, stretches the entire back body, including the calf muscles, hamstrings, adductors of your inner thighs, and the muscles along the spine. Not only does this pose benefit the physical body, but it also brings ease to the emotional body. As with most forward bends, this pose can bring a sense of calm and cooling not only to your body but also to the mind.

I love this seated forward fold because, as I mentioned earlier, you can really do it almost anywhere - well, it may look weird if you do it at a restaurant, but other than that it is very accessible. You can do it at home, as a passenger in a car, at the office when you have some space alone, even at the airport or the doctor’s office. Whenever you need some calm and ease and a nice back stretch, this is your pose.

As we begin, in case it east painfully obvious, you will need a chair for this posture - you can also do it on a couch too or even the side of a bed. Once you have found your seat, have some blocks handy too. If you anticipate that you will need a higher surface on which to place your hands in your forward fold, you may want to have another chair positioned in front of you. Beginning sitting tall, with both feet flat on the ground, as you inhale draw the crown of your head in an upwards direction and then, moving from your hips, exhale and fold forward taking your hands to a chair, blocks, or even the floor if it is in comfortable reach. Relax into your head and neck and turn your attention to your breath. Lets remain for 5 breaths. Pressing firmly into your feet as you inhale begin to draw yourself back to an upright seated position. Pause here to allow the body to settle.

Feel free to do this anytime anywhere pose whenever and wherever it suits you! Thanks for continuing your yoga journey with me and will see you next time!