om body
The benefits of Chair Pose
l Chair Pose strengthens your ankles, calf muscles, thigh muscles
and hip flexors
l The asana helps to develop the inner arches of your feet
l Chair Pose works your inner core muscles while strengthening the
muscles of your lower back
l It opens the chest and shoulders improving your posture and
allowing you to breathe more fully
l Chair Pose puts healthy stress on our bones helping to prevent
osteoporosis
l The asana has a stimulating quality to it and allows you to develop
your focus and concentration
Contraindications
l It is suggested that Chair Pose may not be an appropriate asana
to practice if you have low blood pressure, migraine/headache or
insomnia
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Va r i a t i o n s
There are many different variations of Chair Pose that you may have
come across in class:l If you have tight shoulders you can take your hands wider than
shoulder width and in front of your torso
l You can also reach your arms forward in line with your shoulders
l Try squeezing a cork block between your thighs to engage your
inner thigh muscles more
l One variation involves students coming up onto the balls of their
toes and lowering down with a vertical spine
l You can also step your feet together, hug your thighs towards each
other, lift your heels an inch off your mat and see how far you can
lower keeping your spine vertical
l Some teachers like to incorporate a back bend into the posture,
arching through the upper back
l You can also practice Revolved Chair Pose where you twist your
torso to one sideFIND A NEUTRAL NECK
l Ideally your head is in line with the
rest of your spine
l Gently slide the sides of your
throat back and then lower your chin
slightly towards your chest feeling the
back of your neck lengthenFOCUS YOUR GAZE
l Your focal point
(drishti) is towards the
centre of your eyebrows
(third eye). If this doesn’t
feel comfortable, soften
your gaze and look at
a fixed point in front of
you or above youFIND A NEUTRAL TILT
TO YOUR PELVIS
l Roll your upper,
inner thighs back to
soften your inner groins
and create space at the
back of your pelvis
l Into this space
lower your sacrum and
tailbone down towards
your heels to stabilise
your pelvis
l Notice your
abdominal muscles
engage as the pit of
your belly draws up
and inAndrew McGonigle is Doctor Yogi,
a medically trained yoga teacher
based in London who specialises
in teaching anatomy applied to
yoga. Visit doctoryogi.co.uk