Vanquish Pain... With Just a Chair and Time
The old man groan...
You've heard it before. Maybe you've even done it yourself.
You go to stand up and let out a little groan as your body fights gravity.
Well, you can thank a bunch of bodily changes working in concert to derail you from the simple act of standing.
You start getting thinner – in all the wrong places... like the cartilage between the joints and the tendons.
Not to mention, as you get older, the amount of lubricating synovial fluid between your joints decreases... Ligaments shorten and stiffen... And we also start naturally losing muscle mass and strength, like in the thighs, that helps get us up from our bums.
So we end up with stiff joints, poor flexibility, and pain.
Thankfully, we know that we can limit or slow down this terrible symphony by regularly moving our bodies. But what about exercise for folks who can't get up at all due to mobility issues?
Well, I have the perfect solution...
Chair yoga uses traditional yoga poses and breathing techniques but modifies them so that they are done while sitting in a chair or standing while holding on to a chair.
The added support offers stability and removes a great deal of pain and anxiety for folks who want to participate without getting hurt – like seniors who are scared about falling or are having balance problems.
It's also cost-effective (again, all you need is a chair and some time set aside).
I've said for years that one of my favorite ways to get moving is through yoga. But we often hear from readers who can't do yoga the traditional way.
Thankfully, chair-yoga adaptations are widely available. Whether you're new to yoga, have impaired mobility, or are recovering from an illness or an injury, you can improve your physical and mental health with chair yoga.
I consider yoga an essential practice for maximizing your healthspan. So today, I'm going to show you why yoga is so beneficial, and then I'll share some chair-yoga poses with you so that you can start doing this form of yoga today...
Yoga is an all-round exercise – depending on the pose, it engages different parts of the body, so you can choose to focus on your upper body, lower body, core, and more. Yoga is good for your heart... It's recommended for relief from aches and pains that may ail us as we age...
A small study from April 2023 published in Healthcare looked at 85 women aged 65 and up with knee osteoarthritis. Half of them did twice-weekly chair-yoga sessions for 12 weeks. Each session consisted of a 15-minute warm-up, 50 minutes of chair yoga, a 10-minute break, 20 minutes of balance training while standing, and then 15 minutes of cooldown poses.
Compared with the non-yoga group, the exercise group saw significantly improved fitness needed for daily life functions... like stronger hand-grip and upper-limb strength, balance, agility, and lower-limb flexibility.
It's proven to help back pain, too... A 2017 study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that after three months, folks who practiced yoga experienced less back pain. The participants, all complaining of chronic lower-back pain, had similar improvements as those undergoing physical therapy. Better still, they used fewer pain medications than folks who only received educational materials for pain management. This shows that yoga is a fun (and often less expensive) alternative for chronic back pain.
Plus, yoga triggers the relaxation system in our bodies for stress relief. So chair yoga is a bonus if you work long hours seated at a desk.
When doing chair yoga, it's important to use a sturdy, four-legged chair (no wheels). Placing the back of your chair against a wall for extra security will help if you're worried about your chair moving out from under you.
Here are five chair-yoga poses to get you started...
No. 1: Chair Neck Stretch
Sit up straight with both feet on the floor, hip width apart, and without letting your back touch the back of the chair. Slowly extend your neck so that you feel the top of your head rising toward the ceiling. Hold the base of your chair with your left hand. Place your right hand on your right temple. Take a deep breath, engaging your core muscles, and when you exhale, slowly bring your right ear toward your right shoulder. Hold this position while taking 10 slow breaths and then slowly bring your head back to the center position. Bring your right arm to the chair and switch sides, doing the same movement on the left side.
Click here to see a video example of the neck stretch.
No. 2: Chair Warrior
Face forward with your arms down at your side at a wide, low angle. Take a deep breath and, keeping your elbows straight, slowly raise your arms above your head, like you're tracing part of an imaginary circle around you. Hold your arms in the air and take 10 deep breaths before lowering your arms back down to your sides.
Click here to see a video example of the warrior pose. (You can ignore the leg movements in the video if you're unable to follow those.)
No. 3: Chair Cat-Cow Stretch
Sit on the edge of your chair with your back straight and your core muscles engaged. Inhale while gently rolling your shoulders forward and arching your back toward the back of the chair for the "cat" position. Hold this position for three to five slow breaths, and then return to your original position. Next, arch your back and chest the opposite way for the "cow" position, holding for three to five breaths. Then slowly return to your original position once again.
Click here to see a video example of a cat-cow stretch.
No. 4: Chair Spinal Twist
Sit sideways on your chair with your knees over the right side of the chair and the back of the chair next to your right arm. Sit up straight and make sure your body is not touching the back of the chair. Now, inhale and reach with both hands to hold the back of the chair, but keep your torso still. As you exhale, slowly turn your torso toward the back of the chair. Hold this position for 10 breaths, and then slowly return to your original position. Then move your legs to the left side of the chair and perform the same movements on your left side.
Click here to see a spinal-twist video example.
No. 5: Chair Pigeon
Sit upright and facing forward. Slowly raise your left ankle to rest on top of your right knee or thigh, using your hands to assist if that's helpful. Take a deep breath in and flex your left foot – pointing your toes toward your shin. While exhaling, bend your torso forward. Take five deep breaths in this position and then return to sitting up straight. Slowly switch your leg position to the other side, with your right ankle resting on your left leg, and perform the movement again.
Click here to see a video example of the pigeon pose.
Do what I do and get your inner yogi on. If you're just getting started with chair yoga and are concerned about falling or hurting yourself, sign up for an in-person class with an experienced instructor. Aged 55 or older? Check out your local senior center for yoga classes and sign up. For those who prefer to fly solo, find a beginner yoga video on YouTube and give it a try.
And if you want to gauge your body's functional strength, it just takes 30 seconds. Unless you already have mobility problems, doing this will give you a good idea of your lower-body strength, your risk of suffering such issues in old age, and even your fall risk. Read about it in this issue of Retirement Millionaire. Or grab a trial subscription to my flagship newsletter here.
What We're Reading (and Watching)...
- Here's a look at the chair-yoga workout from the knee-osteoarthritis study.
- Something different: The private firefighters on call for the Californians who can afford them.
Here's to our health, wealth, and a great retirement,
Dr. David Eifrig and the Health & Wealth Bulletin Research Team
January 28, 2025