CHAIR YOGA & ADVENTURES in EXERCISING by Judy Rader

Recently, a friend invited me to a chair yoga class.  Yes, you read that correctly, CHAIR yoga.  My first question was how in the heck do you twist yourself into a pretzel while in a chair?  My friend laughed and replied, “You will love it!  It’s a great way to stretch your hip-flexor muscles and improve your balance.”  Ok, so then I had to Google “hip-flexor muscles.”

MY FIRST YOGA CLASS

When I started my exercise journey, many years ago, I started with an after work yoga class.  I am not sure what specific type of yoga it was. Each day, however, I grabbed my mat and went to a meeting room that overlooked our local park grounds. It was a beautiful setting. The room had a large stone fireplace, and in the fall and winter a cozy fire welcomed us into the room.

I attempted many of the poses but was never flexible enough to get them to feel natural.  The instructor was very encouraging, and I was in awe of her rubber-like body.  Cool down became my favorite part of the yoga class.  Lying comfortably on my mat with the glow of the fire and listening to the instructor’s hypnotizing voice, I would fall asleep.  The trouble with that was, besides my snoring, I had to drive home.  Once home, I was wide awake for the rest of the night!

NEXT. . .

I decided I wanted to be more adventurous in my pursuit of good health and exercise, so I tried kick boxing.  I took my frustrations out on the bag while envisioning the face of someone who recently irritated me. It was invigorating. That is until I  realized that when I left  class I felt  horrible for kicking the imaginary person.

I have always loved swimming, so I was excited when our local pool offered a swim aerobics class.  What a work out!  Pushing water and jumping up and down in the water all to pop music was exhilarating.  I only took two sessions of that class because the final session was during the winter and coming outside to go home after swimming was too much for my still damp head and I fought a perpetual cold for many months.

SOMETHING EXOTIC

My most exotic class was belly dancing.  I loved the hip movements with my arms swirling while my finger cymbals kept time with the music.  When we got to wear the full belly dancing outfit, complete with face veil, I was ready to quit my day job.  Trouble with this class, no one else shared my joy and the class was cancelled due to lack of interest.

So, here I am giving CHAIR yoga a chance.  I have been attending for several months and my hip flexors and I are doing great.  My balance has improved.  My back and neck muscles have stretched to new lengths.  Most importantly, I can do all the moves at work—as long as I switch to a chair without wheels.

My exercise journey has made me appreciate being healthy and having a body that can do the movements, however, the greatest gain has been the new friendships I have made.  I may not see the instructors or classmates ever again, but while I was in the class, we shared groans, sighs, and laughs.   I think I want to try a bungee workout next.