It offers comprehensive physical and mental health benefits, including increased flexibility, strength and balance, alongside reduced stress, anxiety, and improved cardiovascular health.
In more recent times, yogis in the US developed chair yoga, making the practice more accessible to a wide range of people.
Chair yoga has now spread around the globe and is becoming a popular pastime in Benalla.
SereniYoga, operated by Benalla’s Linda Hocking, has been running in the Rose City for about 10 years.
“Chair yoga is a takeoff from the floor yoga that people will already know about,” Ms Hocking said.
“What I do is similar poses that we do on the floor, but on a chair.
“So people still get the benefits that they would get on the floor, but it’s slightly modified.
“As we get older, our body changes, our movement changes.
“Or someone may have had an accident that has caused limitations in how their body activates or moves.”
Linda said it involved many of the same poses you would find in a typical yoga class.
“We do things like your warrior poses, but some people may not be able to move their hands above their head, so they can have their hands on their shoulders or their hips,” she said.
“So it's modified to help them.
“Sometimes I do get students to stand, if they can, with the aid of the chair to do a tree pose.”
Linda said the reason she wanted to teach chair yoga was that she knew of people who had been doing traditional yoga, but had stopped because they got a bit older, or had an accident.
“That’s what chair yoga is really all about,” she said.
Chair yoga takes place at Benalla CWA Hall on Bridge St East most Fridays from 10am.
Classes are $20 per session or six classes for $90. Cash is preferred, but EFTPOS is available.
Linda said everyone was welcome.
“You don't need to have any experience at all. Just bring yourself and an open mind,” she said.
To find out more, call Linda on 0419 503 549.
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