Emotional well-being. Fall prevention. Chair yoga has a lot to offer people of all ages

By LEANNE ITALIE Associated Press NEW YORK AP Marian Rivman is pushing Harriet Luria is a proud In this trio Carol Leister is the baby at Together they have decades of experience with yoga Only now it involves a chair Chair yoga adapts traditional yoga poses for older people and others with physical challenges but the three devotees commented after a latest class that doesn t mean it s not a quality workout As older adults have become more progressing chair yoga has grown in popularity You re stretching your whole body Rivman offered What you can do in the chair is a little bit more forgiving on the knees and on the hips So as you age it allows you to get into positions that you were doing before without hurting yourself Whitney Chapman right conducts a chair yoga class at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan in New York March AP Photo Richard Drew Sitting down to exercise or standing while holding onto a chair to perform particular poses may not sound like a workout but Rivman Luria Leister and practitioners everywhere see a world of benefits I took it up because I have osteoporosis and the chair yoga is much easier Luria mentioned You don t have to worry as much about falling and developing anything It s not as hard as I thought it would be but it s not easy And you really do use your muscles It s an excellent workout Yoga with a chair isn t just for older people Chair yoga is clearly marketed to older women who made up the class where the three yoga friends got together at the Marlene Meyerson JCC on the Upper West Side of Manhattan But the practice also has a lot to offer others commented their instructor Whitney Chapman Desk workers can squeeze in minutes of chair yoga for instance A multitude of companies offer it as a way to cut down on stress and improve overall vitality And people recovering from surgery or injuries may not be ready to get down on a yoga mat but they can stretch in a chair I ve known these ladies likely to years And the very first time in a yoga class that I brought in the chair all of my students mentioned I don t want geriatric yoga I m not an old person Chapman declared Instructor Whitney Chapman talks about her chair yoga class at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan in New York March AP Photo Richard Drew And then they saw that having a chair is just as good as a yoga strap a yoga block It s another prop that s going to help you do what you want to do So it s not necessarily because you re older but that it can be helpful And it doesn t mean you re geriatric just because you re sitting in a chair The benefits are numerous Chapman mentioned improved flexibility strength balance And there s the overall emotional well-being that yoga practitioners in general document It s particularly useful for people with mobility issues or chronic ailments like arthritis or back pain Chapman also teaches yoga to cancer and Parkinson s complaint patients In addition to restorative and other benefits the practice of chair yoga can help improve posture for people of all ages and abilities and help older people prevent falls A physical practice that can last a lifetime Leister just now retired I ve been looking for all different kinds of exercises to do and this is one of them she commented This is the one that I could see doing for the rest of my life where particular that are a little more strenuous I may not be able to do in the future Whitney Chapman left conducts a chair yoga class at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan in New York March AP Photo Richard Drew Traditional yoga originated more than years ago in India Multiple of the poses used currently are also that old It can be as much spiritual as physical and that also goes for its chair descendant The precise movements are tied to deliberate cleansing breathwork Rivman has been doing yoga for about years Once you start and you get what it does for your body you don t want to give it up And if there s a way that you can keep doing it and keep doing it safely that s a choice you re going to make she stated Yoga by the numbers including chair yoga The practice of yoga including chair yoga has been on the rise in the U S over the last years In the percentage of adults age and older who practiced yoga in the past months was with percentages highest among women ages according to the U S Centers for Complaint Control and Prevention Women are more than twice as likely as men to practice yoga the figures evidenced The percentage of adults who practiced yoga to treat or manage pain decreased with increasing family income Whitney Chapman right conducts a chair yoga class at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan in New York March AP Photo Richard Drew The CDC didn t break out chair yoga for analysis but recommends that adults and older focus on exercises that improve balance and strength That the vitality agency announced can be achieved through various exercises including chair yoga Why don t more men do yoga Chapman and her students have thoughts on why more men don t practice yoga Traditionally Chapman explained the practice was reserved for men but as yoga became more westernized women took over Related Articles Dog s eye problems have yet to resolve Pharmacists stockpile majority common drugs on chance of targeted Trump tariffs Aging Boom s next stage Rise of the -somethings Publix recalls baby food pouches after testing finds elevated levels of lead Weight-loss drugs may lower cancer danger in people with diabetes a research suggests Women tend to be more group-oriented I would love to see more men in class I do have a meager I don t know if they re intimidated but you know it s a great way to meet women if everybody s single Chapman stated with a chuckle Luria theorizes that fewer men are drawn to yoga because it s not a competitive sport You re really working at your own level she announced Take out the competition and it s not their thing These chair yoga practitioners have lots of advice Rivman summed it up best Get into a chair and do a few yoga You don t have to stand on your head but you have to move You re never too old to start