Chair Yoga

Chair Yoga
Event Date: 
Thursday, May 18, 2023 - 11:00am to 12:00pm

Chair Yoga – Williams Bay Recreation Department

Thursdays, 11am-12pm Lions Field House, Williams Bay Cost: $10/session

First Class Starting February 2

Instructor: Frank Whiting

What is Chair Yoga?

Yoga is beneficial in countless ways, physically, mentally and spiritually. Increased flexibility, improved balance, increased body awareness and improved mental focus are all benefits. Not to mention a general sense of peace and well-being.

Chair yoga makes all of these benefits accessible to everyone, even those who have limited mobility because of injury, disease, aging or simply too much of sedentary lifestyle. According to Yoga Alliance, the primary oversight organization for yoga in the United States, “using a chair allows REAL people to do REAL yoga.”

The quality and range of movement that one can achieve in a chair is amazing, and the stable support of a chair allows you to hold poses longer, resulting in additional flexibility and strength and creating a deeper experience of each posture.

What to expect?

What we will do – we will begin our practice seated and use a focus on the breath to relax and make sure that we are fully present. From our seat we will gently move our bodies to warm up the spine and prepare for standing poses. We will stand up and patiently move in and out of traditional yoga postures, guided by the instructor and using the chair in specific ways to create stability and balance. We will sit back down and finish our practice with postures designed to relax and open hips, shoulders, lower back. We will finish our practice with a few minutes of Savasana, a seated final relaxation that allows the body to absorb and integrate everything that we have done that morning.

We will welcome questions during the practice, for example: “Am I doing this right?” or “Should I be feeling this here?”

What we won’t do – we won’t get down on the floor (and have to get back up again).

Who can participate?

If you Google “Chair Yoga,” you’ll read that anyone can do it, but chair yoga is ideal for the over-65 population. GoodRX says, “Chair yoga for older adults is a safe, low-impact exercise that can promote healthy aging.”

Our chair yoga practice is accessible for individuals in average health who are in their 70’s and 80’s (if you are relatively mobile and can sit down and stand up unaided). Joint replacements are not a disqualifier, but let your instructor know.

What to wear/bring?

Please wear comfortable clothing that will allow you to move freely and without restriction. Yoga is generally practiced in bare feet, however if you prefer you may wear thin soled shoes that provide traction on the mat. Socks are not recommended unless they have non-slip bottoms.

Please bring a water bottle. If you have a yoga mat you are welcome to bring and use it, but if you don’t loaner mats will be provided. Any other “props” that the instructor may choose to use from time to time will be provided.

Please pull up a chair and join us each Thursday at 11am (do you see what I did there?)

Questions? Call us at 262-686-8001 or email us at rec@williamsbay.org