Add On: Make Space with a Chair

Welcome to making space with a chair. I am so excited to share this practice with you today. Today, we're gonna need a yoga mat a backless yoga chair, 2 yoga blocks, and a blanket. And we're gonna start in Tedasana. So we're gonna turn our back to against the chair, have the seat facing away from you.

Step back as close as you can to the chair so that the backs of your thighs or your buttock bones are connecting to the top of the chair. We're gonna deliberately reach back and let our fingertips graze the sides of the chair. Perhaps depending on the length of your fingers, we can actually grip the sides of the chair. And then put a soft bend to your knees. If it feels comfortable, close your eyes.

Take a nice big breath in through your nose. Take a big sigh out through the mouth. One more time. Inhale. And exhale. So just begin to notice right away how the shape is feeling.

The chair really truly is the best partner. So it doesn't let us cheat And it gives us quite a bit of insight on the habitual patterns of our body. So chances are for most of us. The position that we are in feels quite unnatural. The chest feels quite open. The shoulders are moving back, right, against the tendency for us to round the shoulders.

So just notice the sensation as we create that space across the chest. Notice where we are holding, where we are gripping, where we are finding tension. Is the jawbone gripping? Is the forehead squeezing? Or our toes scrunched up. And see if you can allow your awareness to just move up and down the body through every corner, every edge and invite anything that is gripping to begin to soften.

And then notice your breath. Start to watch the inhale me exhale noticing where the breath is landing. Do we feel the chest moving? Do we feel the belly moving? Can you start to direct the breath a little more into the belly? So that as we breathe into the belly, we then feel the rise up into this wonderful space that we're opening up through the chest.

Well, let's take 5 more big full in house just like that. And as you breathe, lift the sternum just a little bit higher. Think that the chair that's connected to the backs of the thighs is allowing the tailbone to tuck and for you to find a slight lift through the navel. And through the sternum. Draw the chin slightly in towards the chest ever so slightly.

So that we can feel the sides of the neck elongate, the crown of the head reaching up to the sky. Take a nice big breath in. Take a big breath out. And try to keep the chest, try to keep the shoulders nice and open, as we release the grip of the chair and let the arms relax by our sides, you may feel slight gentle tingling through the fingertips through the arms. Just notice If the eyes are closed, let the eyes open, take that soft gaze forward.

And just feel that space across the chest. And then from here, gonna reach down, and you're gonna close the chair towards you. So that as we close the chair towards us, we can start to grip both of the legs of the chair. So we keep the legs nice and closed. And we're gonna find the top of the chair right into the hip crease.

And as you find the chair into the hip crease, put a slight bend to your knees and start to crawl your hands as far down as feels comfortable, really keeping a hold of both legs of the chair so that the chair doesn't open. You don't have to go into the deepest fold. As we hang here, we are gonna start to open up space quite naturally. Now keep squeezing the legs of the chair. And as you squeeze the legs of the chair, start to also pull the legs of the chair towards the hip crease.

So we feel that suggestion of the lift of the pelvis up towards the sky. Take a few deep breaths here right into the low back. Relax your toes. And then notice where the weight is in the feet is the weight really far forward in the balls of the feet? Is it really far back in the heels?

See if we can find the middle. And you could stay right here, or we could start to crawl the hands even further down. Really keeping a hold of both legs of the chair. Play with relaxing the head. And this is quite therapeutic, but also quite active.

So we really need to be pushing down into the legs of the chair with our hands. And at the same time, we're pushing down Invite the elbows to bend so that you're pulling the chair in towards the hip crease. Think that that allows you to fold even deeper towards the chair. And let's take 5 or 6 more big full breaths here right into the belly. That compression, just let the breath move to the low back Some of you, your forehead is gonna connect to the back of the seat.

Be able to side ribs expand. Feel the upper back relax. 3 more breaths. Keep pushing down into the legs and pulling up at the same And then very, very carefully, start to crawl the hands, back up the legs of the chair. Nice and easy. Rolling yourself up.

Roll your shoulders once you get to the top. Just pause. Keep a soft bend to the knees and just notice and feel the back. Feel that release through the low back. And then take your time opening up the seat of the chair.

You can slide your chair maybe slightly more forward towards top of your mats. We'll start with our fingertips at the top of the chair. We're gonna walk our feet back. So have a nice long stance bend your knees and then start to direct the heart forward. So look forward past the top of the chair.

Keep the knees softly bent. Push down through the fingertips or through the palms. We wanna find full extension through the arms as best we can. Wrap and roll the armpits in, and then push down into the top of the chair. And as you push down, think that you're also pushing forward.

And as you also push forward, move the butt back. Find that space along the length of the spine. So I like to imagine sometimes it's as if someone is just lightly pulling my hips back and I'm resisting by moving the heart forward. This feels so good in the low back, decongesting through the upper back as well, and also opening up the shoulders. Keep moving the buttock bones back.

Keep moving the heart forward. Reaching, reaching, reaching as far as you can. And then take a moment to relax the head in between the arms. Keep pushing down and keep pushing forward through the palms and keep moving the butt back. So to think of drawing the lower belly in, bend your knees, and then think that you're sliding the butt up a wall.

Do that a few more times. Spend the knees. Slide the buttock phones up a wall. Last time. Bend the knees. Slide the butt up.

Keep the butt up. Look forward one more time. Reach the heart forward even more. Push the butt back even more. Create that space.

2 more breaths. And then very slowly start to walk your feet forward towards the chair. Roll your shoulders once you come up. Shake it out. Now we're moving into one of my favorite shapes such a therapeutic shape so great for our backs.

So we're gonna move into a variation of down dog. You're gonna wanna take your blanket and fold it up so that it's nice and thick and place it over the top of the chair. Right? This is gonna support our hip crease. I recommend having your two blocks in front of the seat. If we're on a clock, having your blocks at an imaginary 10 o'clock 2 o'clock.

You may not need the blocks. But we're gonna start by finding that hip crease folding over the blanket over the top of the chair So I'm gonna bring my hands onto the seat. I'm gonna walk my feet back and the hip crease finds the top of the chair. My feet walk back and I fold forward into the seat. You could bring your hands to these front legs.

Okay. We wanna keep our feet down. So those of you that maybe your feet feel like they're lifted, maybe grab some support at home, perhaps a bolster. To put under your feet. And then from here, reach the arms out at 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock. Let your fingertips or your hands rest on the blocks.

For me, my chin rest comfortably on the seat. Some of you, it might be your forehead, but just allow yourself to empty into the shape And this is such a wonderful shape because for the first time probably in a long time, as we hang here, we allow the chair to hold us and we allow the back to completely relax. And so take a moment and just breathe into the back of the body. Feel the arm pits rolling in towards the ears. Feel how the tail naturally lifts up so we don't have to work so hard.

Try to let your upper back, your middle back, and your lower back just relax and be supported in the shape. Just another moment here. Breathing. Now as we're ready to come out, we wanna do so very mindfully. So if your hands are on blocks, start to walk your hands back towards the chair. Find those front legs.

Keep your feet down. Bring your hands into the seat. Use the seat to push yourself up and off of the chair. Take a moment and just roll the shoulders. And then let's find a seat in our chair.

So just sitting up towards the edge of the chair, take a moment with your palms flipped up to the sky. Close your eyes. Just notice what's happening inside of the body. Feel the space that has become available to you just through your practice using the chair. Feel the space in the body, the space in the minds, and in the heart.

And take a moment, bow your head towards your heart, and acknowledge your practice in the space that you've created with gratitude. Namaste.