If you're reading this online, sitting at your desk, I want you to stop right now. Check your posture, sit back in the chair, lift your arms up, bringing your palms together above your head. Doesn't that feel better?
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Given the amount of time Canberrans are glued to their desks, the idea of chair yoga was an interesting one. Run by Arthritis ACT, the classes are predominantly promoted to those suffering from the debilitating condition, but I wondered how those of us, whose bodies, for the best part, remain somewhat functional could benefit.
That's not to take anything away from the super work Arthritis ACT is doing to enrich the lives of their community. As well as chair yoga, there is program of Tai Chi, strength and balance classes, warm water classes and floor yoga. Indeed, a couple of women in my class had already done a session of Tai Chi that morning but still had enough energy for chair yoga.
Chair yoga is pretty much the same as floor yoga but moves are modified to make it accessible for people who cannot stand or lack the mobility to move easily from standing to seated to supine positions.
Who ever thought you could do a seated plank? We squeezed yoga blocks between our knees, lifted our feet off the floor, leant back in the chair. It was just as hard seated as it is on the floor. Let's not hold this position too long.
And who would have thought, too, that one of my favourite yoga moves, the sun salutation, was also transferable.
Instructor Eli Haski was fantastic. She's been teaching yoga for three years now, trained by Heather Agnew at Trinity Yoga, specialising in work with older adults and those with physical conditions that might restrict movement. As well as the classes for Arthritis ACT she has also done work with the MS Society. She began her own fitness journey after caring for her father "whose body didn't do what he wanted it to", passionate about helping those people with some sort of body dysfunction.
Our class is a small one and very personal. Haski adjusts certain poses, particularly when we do stand behind our chairs for some moves. She adapts classes depending on the limitations of participants. Indeed she adapts moves for individuals within the class. One woman in my class, who told me she suffered from rheumatoid arthritis, and had terrible shoulder and wrist pain, had options for all the moves which involved the upper body.
The class routine followed a typical yoga session, a great warm-up, some breathing, working through moves and then finishing up in a quiet meditative space.
I must admit, whenever I've tried yoga it's all the breathe into your knees and rid your mind of thoughts things that I've struggled with. Just switching off is impossible sometimes. But Haski took me there.
And when I think why, perhaps it was because sitting in a chair felt so comfortable. Like it or not, it's what a lot of us do every day.
The Verdict: At my desk during the week I found myself doing some moves, my hips are always tight, and the few stretches Haski showed us, are simple and easy to do. But one of the things I most enjoyed about the following week was just sitting at my desk and pausing. Closing my eyes and just taking a moment. Breathing. Switching off. Even if just for a minute or too. I'll keep some of these ideas with me forever.
Details: Chair yoga and floor yoga classes are run every Monday morning at the Arthritis ACT rooms in the Grant Cameron Community Centre, 27 Mulley Street, Holder. $56 for 10 weeks of classes for members, $88 for non-members, or $7/11 per session. Bookings: 1800 011 041 or info@arthritisact.org.au or online at arthritisact.org.au/member/misc/events/
