27 Chair Sun Salutations

happy solstice glad to see you if you're in this episode it means that perhaps physical movement is difficult right now for a variety of reasons if you're hoping for a little bit more spunk and flair please find your way over to either my friend Julia Alana or Brenda's episode so we're gonna start out sitting in a chair so make sure you're quite comfortable and sitting at the front of your chair is usually more useful now I happen to be on a special yoga chair which just means that the back was removed but any regular chair will do sit up at the front make sure your heels are just underneath your knees and let your hands find a comfortable resting spot perhaps on your thighs maybe facing down or maybe facing up and the way we're gonna begin our practice today of our 27 salutes to the Sun our thank you our gratitude for the nourishment and the light she on the warmth she offers us is in the mental space so let your eyes close big deliberate inhale exhale everything and then do that again eyes closed inhale exhale everything and allowing your imaginal realm to blossom on your next inhale see interiorly yourself reaching your arms up over the top of your head and as you exhale bring your palms together in your mind and bring them back down in front of your heart we'll do that two more times mentally inhale circle your arms up over the top of your head mentally as you exhale palms press bring them back down in front of your heart nice one more time inhale reaching your arms up over the top of your head just in your mind and as you exhale let the hands come back down in front of your heart now we're gonna add on so imagine yourself standing inhale reach your arms up over the top of your head in your mind and as you exhale forward fold over your legs hands reaching towards your toes yes as you inhale mentally hands come halfway up the legs arching your heart exhale fold over your legs in your mind bend your knees a little bit inhale as you circle your arms up back towards the sky and then exhale let your hands come back down to the heart doing this all in your mind feel how your breath starts to change again inhale reach your arms up over the top of your head in your mind exhale fold forward see yourself doing this inhale half arches the hands slide halfway up the legs and as you exhale fold over yes inhale circle your arms up towards the sky like feel yourself reaching inside exhale hands back down to the center of your heart one more like this inhale circle your arms up see that in your mind exhale forward fold in your mind inhale feel yourself from interior reaching half arch exhale forward fold beautiful inhale circle your arms all the way back up towards the sky like feel the reach inside exhale hands come back down to the center of the heart so as we start to let the body follow the thoughts okay and we start to move more physically if it's more appropriate for you to stay in the mental space then just keep your eyes closed and stay with us follow along with your breath and the imaginal realm trust me this works more than you can possibly imagine so we'll start with six quarter salutations hands at the heart as you're ready inhale circle the arms up reach and as you exhale the hands come back down in front of the heart beautiful inhale lengthen exhale hands come back down into the center of the heart inhale follow your gaze with the hands if it feels okay exhale hands back down into the center of your heart three more inhale reach exhale hands back to the center of your heart two more inhale if you're following along in your mind reaching exhale hands to the heart one more inhale and exhale we'll start to add on six half salutations maybe with the physical body maybe in the imaginal realm inhale reach as you exhale draw the hands to the center of the heart let them find the legs as you fold over your legs as you inhale slide the hands halfway up the legs allow your back to arch as you lift your heart and as you exhale fold over the legs again as you inhale keep the hands on the legs for support slowly come back up reach the arms up and then exhale hands back to the center of the heart five more like this inhale reach exhale hands come down towards the heart onto your legs fold over inhale slide the hands up the legs let your back arch as you brighten the heart and as you exhale fold over the legs as you inhale use the hands on the legs for support roll back up reach the arms up and then exhale hands come back down to the center of the heart four more inhale reach maybe you're doing it in your mind exhale fold over the legs let the hands be supportive inhale half arch get long through the heart exhale forward fold inhale use the hands for support as you draw yourself back up reach to the sky exhale hands back to the center of the heart again inhale exhale inhale exhale inhale use the hands for the support come all the way back up reach exhale hands back to the heart two more inhale open exhale hands on the legs support yourself only come down as feels as far as correct inhale half arch exhale fold inhale use the hands for the support slide all the way back up reach exhale hands come back down last one like this inhale exhale inhale lift the heart exhale forward fold inhale use the hands for the support as you come back up reach for the sky exhale hands back to the center of the heart pause here let the hands rest and just notice how you're feeling so some of you might have done that in your mind some of you might have followed along with the body and for some of you it's best and most appropriate to stay here in the chair and continue to work mentally at this point though we're gonna make the transition of starting to stand and use the chair for support so at this point we've already offered 18 salutations to the Sun okay now we're on our way to 27 what we're gonna be moving into next is a way to do a lunge salute with a chair you might join in okay with the physical movement or you might continue or come back into the realm of working imagine we'll move a little slower than with the pace of the breath because it takes some coordination okay let's see how this goes you'll really want to be sitting on the far edge of the chair as you're ready inhale circle the arms up and exhale forward fold like we've been doing slide the hands down let an inhale create the half arch drawing the heart up nice and exhale forward fold again to inhale slide your hands up the legs pause as you exhale now we're gonna turn in the chair to the right I'm gonna place my right leg in front I'm gonna set myself way far on the front edge of the chair and wiggle the left leg back now as you wiggle this left leg back we're looking to find a stretch through this front thigh so if you're not quite feeling it you let the sit bone the left sit bone draw under a little bit then you'll start to feel it okay now you can keep this knee slightly bent that's one option some of you might be like what happens if I wiggle it back a little bit more so we'll take it down this first round of these we'll just kind of make sure that we're in it together okay now where to put the hands one hand might be bouncing on the back of the chair okay one hand might be on that front knee both hands might be on that front knee stretching back through that heel feel the inhale of the heart lift and if and only if okay only if it feels quite balanced you might explore inhale reaching your arms up over the top of your head like length wiggle nice okay inhale here to come out exhale you let your hands come back down maybe one on the back of the chair maybe one on that front knee now be tender with that back knee soften her okay inhale and let an exhale bring you back to center and we'll spin to the other side so now my left knee is forward I have my right knee bent I mean I'm really sitting on this far edge of the chair like my left sit bones quite forward you use your hands for balance so I've got my back left hand on this on this edge I've got my front left ankle underneath the left knee now this back this this right knee is dangling and right now this might be enough stretch for you if you want to feel more remember you draw the right sit bone under a little bit and then to get even more you can snuggle snuggle snuggle this right foot back okay hands might balance on the legs you might have both hands on this front knee only if it feels quite stable and secure okay only if it feels quite good you'll inhale you'll reach your arms over the top of the head that's not necessary though okay if that doesn't feel good you keep your hands on the legs and you lift up through the heart and you let your appreciation of the Sun brighten you few more moments nice inhale here exhale relax any effort in that back leg okay inhale let an exhale bring you all the way back to center keep your legs a little wider inhale and exhale round down through the legs hands on the ankles we go a little bit okay nice chin into the chest let an inhale roll you all the way back up toe heel the feet back together reach the arms up over the top of the head and then exhale hands come back down to the center of the heart super nice so that's one round we're gonna do two more like that and we'll see maybe we'll get a little fancy and we'll find out in a moment as you're ready inhale circle the arms up and as you exhale fold over hands find the legs fold over nice inhale half arch you let your heart brighten and as you exhale fold over the legs let an inhale bring you all the way back up keep your hands on your legs this time we'll go to the left first turn to the left bring the right foot back now wiggle back through there a little bit curl the sit bone under make sure you're balanced we're not trying to rush this part you're finding that stretch through the front of the thigh you're finding that lift in the heart maybe the arms are circling up and at this point for most of us bringing the hands together is asking quite a lot so for most of us keeping the hands apart is not only more balancing but more correct but today if your hands happen to touch maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe interlace the fingers and reach wiggle nice if your hands touch awesome job inhale here exhale hands come back down to that front left knee relax any intensity in the back thigh inhale here exhale come back to center turn to face the other side take your time to set up okay this isn't easy I mean you know chair hug is not easy you got to take some work to work with the chair it's like any relationship curl the left sit bone under feel the heart lift if appropriate snuggle snuggle snuggle through that back foot maybe the hands stay on the chair or on that front leg maybe they inhale and they reach up again no need to force your hands together this might be superior as you wiggle breathe those of you doing it mentally feel your heart bright and like literally feel your heart bright and feel the reach of the fingertips if your hands come together maybe interlaces you reach stretch back through that heel yeah inhale here exhale release the hands back down on front of that right knee relax the intensity in the back leg like let the left knee relax inhale exhale come back to center keep the toes turned out legs wide inhale exhale slide the hands down the legs towards the ankles the back of the neck long nice as you're ready inhale round a little bit let the hands come up toe heel the feet back towards each other reach the arms up and exhale hands come back down to the center of the arm nice okay one more like this maybe with the physical body maybe just in the mental body those of you that are really just working the mental like notice like how the breath deepens I think that's pretty cool as you're ready inhale circle the arms up and then exhale fold over hands on the legs forward fold inhale half arch exhale forward fold inhale use the hands come all the way back up exhale turn to the right we'll start to the right this last one right knee forward left leg back now snuggle snuggle snuggle snuggle snuggle snuggle hands are either holding the chair maybe they're on this front foot to increase the intensity curl the sit bone under let the heart brighten soften in the upper palate maybe stay here maybe circle the arms up reach maybe in celebration of the Sun keep that right arm lifted and if if only if it feels quite balanced reach turn a little bit and just kind of like point back towards that left foot like John Travolta style like like allow it to occur the 70s of such a bad you know reach that left arm back up exhale hands relax back down on that front knee now relax that back foot relax that back knee inhale exhale come back through center and then all the way to the other side take your time to organize and set up curl the sit bone under wiggle wiggle wiggle back through this right foot if appropriate some of you are holding under the chair some of you have your hands on this front knee draw the sit bones under let the heart brighten those of you that are working in your mind like just feel your heart brighten let the inhale influence maybe reaching the arms up lengthen this might be enough feel the gratitude of the Sun only if it's appropriate right only if it would be fun keep the left arm lifted and just start to allow the right hand to reach back towards those right toes like just can you kind of feel that sense of reaching back and and boy through both fingers like Shazam hi okay super sweet inhale reach that right arm back up relax the effort in the back right leg and let the hands find the front left thigh inhale here exhale come back to center feet wide inhale and as you exhale slide your hands down the legs round okay so we're counter posing all that arching in the back as you're ready chin into the chest inhale start to roll back up reach your arms up towards the sky and then exhale hands come back to the center of the heart release your hands back down into your lap palms turn up and just like let your breath slow down a little bit such excellent work we've offered 21 salutations to the Sun and so for some of you it's gonna make the best sense to stay right here seated in your chair and just let your eyes close and take these next ones mentally or perhaps even continue one of the ones we've been doing if standing up out of the chair and working standing is appropriate for you then that's how we'll finish out these last six carefully find your way out of the chair what I like to do is I don't like to get out of the chair so like this quite far forward I like to get a little bit more oomph from the chair I mean if you can get up and down out of a chair awesome job place your chair I've you know I haven't suggested that you needed a mat up until them but as we move into this these last six salutations it really helps if your chair is on a sticky surface and you if you have the luxury of having your chair up against a wall it's even more secure and stable so if you have that option and it would take a moment to set it up just hit pause and set up okay okay otherwise standing in front of your chair I'm standing with my feet about hit distance apart again some of you are doing this in your mind some of you are doing it with the body too for these last six will move through a sequence of lunge sluts with the chair hands at the heart as you're ready inhale circle the arms up and as you exhale forward fold soften the knees find your hands on the chair let an inhale create a half arch and as you exhale step your left foot forward your right foot back wiggle back through the right foot start to slowly let the left knee bent now we'll let for a couple of breaths here so that it you have time to find your balance letting the left knee bend as the right heel reaches back and on an inhale just kind of let the heart start to circle open nice beautiful inhale here hold onto your chair exhale you're gonna step the left foot back to meet your right into a version of what we usually call downward facing dog you're holding onto your chair you're lengthening back through the sit bones beautiful on your next inhale you're gonna step your right foot forward you're gonna let your right knee bend wiggle back through the left foot stretch back through the left heel let an inhale draw your heart open softer in the eyes excellent inhale here as you exhale press into the right foot step your left foot forward then inhale half arch exhale forward fold soften the knees let an inhale circle your arms all the way back up and exhale hands come back to the center of the heart five more inhale arms up exhale forward fold hands find the outside of the chair inhale lift the heart up and as you exhale this time left foot steps back first right knee bends now take your time wiggle back through the left foot a little bit let the right knee only bend as much as she wants to and then use the chair to help draw your heart up softer in the upper palate excellent inhale here exhale step your right foot back to meet your left holding onto the chair lengthen back through your sit bones for what we usually call downward facing dog beautiful inhale step your left foot forward towards the chair you're letting your left knee bend as you wiggle wiggle wiggle back through that right foot send the right heel back as you let your heart open you're breathing soft in the back of the neck bright in the eyes excellent inhale here exhale step the right foot forward let for a half arch as you inhale and exhale forward fold soften the knees inhale circle the arms all the way up to the sky and then exhale hands back to the center of the heart excellent four more inhale exhale forward fold hands find the chair inhale half arch get long exhale right foot steps back as the left knee bends wiggle wiggle wiggle back through that right foot now reach back through the right heel draw the heart open and to play with your balance just like let your fingertips get just a little lighter on the chair if possible inhale here exhale step the left foot back downward facing dog hold onto the chair lengthen back to the sit bones let the knees bend if that makes it more awesome beautiful inhale right footsteps forward let the right knee bend wiggle back through that left heel lengthen draw the heart up if appropriate and safe lighten your hands just a little bit just to start to strengthen the legs just a little bit more inhale here exhale step that left foot forward half arch exhale forward fold soften the knees let an inhale circle the arms all the way up and exhale hands back to the center of the heart nice three more inhale exhale forward fold inhale lip right in your heart exhale left foot steps back as the right knee bends stretch back through the left heel let your heart open inhale one more time here exhale hold onto the chair step back towards downward facing dog lengthening beautiful inhale left foot steps forward left knee bends wiggle back through the right heel brighten up through your heart excellent inhale here exhale step forward let yourself arch up a little bit exhale forward fold soften the knees inhale circle the arms all the way back up and reach and exhale hands back to the center of the heart two more inhale open exhale forward fold hold on to the chair inhale half arch exhale right foot steps back left knee bends moving into the lunge let your heart brighten one more inhale here exhale hold on to the chair step back downward facing dog lengthen beautiful on your next inhale right foot steps forward let the right knee bend wiggle back through that left foot let your heart brighten inhale here exhale step forward half arch and as you exhale forward fold excellent soften the knees let an inhale circle your arms all the way back up and reach and then exhale hands back to the center of the heart as we make our way to this last one fill it with your your gratitude for the Sun inhale open exhale hold on to the chair inhale half arch exhale left foot steps back right knee bends wiggle back through the left heel let your heart brighten softer in the upper palate inhale here exhale step back downward facing dog get long beautiful next inhale left foot steps forward left knee bends wiggle back through the right heel let your heart brighten beautiful inhale here exhale step the right foot forward half arch exhale forward fold and then as you're ready soften the knees let an inhale circle your arms all the way back up and exhale hands come back down to the center of the heart let the hands come down along your side and just pause standing for a moment letting the inhale brighten letting the exhale soften yes those of you that are working mentally feel your breath expansive boundless and then as you're ready gently sit back down in your chair set your chair up so it's comfortable again sit back down in your chair you can sit back in your chair be comfortable palms turning up and just pay attention to the brightness that's now available okay we our life reflects what we value and so the effort that you've put in now towards appreciating the Sun okay the boon the the results is usually this this inner illumination and this might be enough for you today you might sit here quietly or you might find your way over to one of our friend Julia's clips you might move into one of her meditations her chants or maybe just keep your eyes closed and let her sing the mystical magical ever so sacred Gayatri happy solstice my dear friends thank you for being here with us love