Course description

Chair yoga brings the slow movement, easy breathing and rest of yoga to a sturdy chair. You can do it at home or at your desk, without getting down on the floor, and at your own pace. This course shows you how, gently and safely, one move at a time.

It's written for older adults, people with limited mobility and desk workers. You begin with safety: who should talk to a GP or physiotherapist first, the signs that mean stop, and how to choose and set up a safe chair. Then you learn to sit tall and breathe easily, and work through the body from your neck and shoulders to your arms, hands, spine, hips, knees and feet. Later sections add gentle strength and balance work with the chair, relaxation and a guided rest, a desk routine, and ways to adapt every move for arthritis, low energy days, wheelchair use and one-sided weakness.

There are 10 sections and 50 written lessons. Every movement has clear steps, what you should feel, common slips, and easier and harder options. Each lesson has a worked example, questions people often ask and a short exercise to try, and each section ends with a short quiz. You follow Muthoni, a retired dental receptionist in Clitheroe with stiff knees, and her neighbour Kumud, who works at a desk, through twelve weeks of chair yoga. In the final lessons you build your own 5, 10, 20 and 30-minute routines and plan four weeks of your own. Every section has a practice pack with move sheets drawn for the course, routine cards, planners, a progress log and sheets with answer keys.

What you'll learn

• Getting started safely: what chair yoga is and isn't, who should talk to a GP or physiotherapist first, the signs that mean stop and when to call 999, choosing and setting up a safe chair, and your starting point.
• Posture and breathing basics: the seated mountain, easy breathing and belly breathing, the warm-up and wind-down, moving with your breath, and your first 10-minute session.
• Neck, shoulders and upper back: neck turns, tilts and chin glides, shoulder rolls and shrugs, the chest opener and cactus arms, the self-hug and simple eagle arms, and an upper body routine.
• Arms, wrists and hands: arm reaches and circles, elbow bends and forearm turns, gentle wrist moves, finger spreads and thumb taps, and a hands and arms routine.
• The spine: how your spine likes to move, seated cat-cow, side bends and gentle twists, with care for back pain and osteoporosis, and a spine routine.
• Hips, legs, knees, ankles and feet: seated marching, knee extensions, knee slides, ankle pumps and circles, with care after a hip or knee replacement, and a lower body routine.
• Balance and strength with the chair: seated leg lifts and heel raises, sit to stand, and optional standing moves such as chair warrior and supported tree, always holding the chair, plus falls.
• Relaxation and the working day: tense and release, calming breath, a five-minute guided rest in your chair, a desk routine and movement breaks that really happen.
• Adapting chair yoga for you: making any move smaller, slower, more supported or shorter, arthritis and joint pain, low energy days, wheelchair users and one-sided weakness.
• Building your routine: 5, 10, 20 and 30-minute routines, tracking how you feel, and planning four weeks of chair yoga of your own, with a worked plan.

Who it's for

Older adults who want to keep moving comfortably, people with limited mobility or long-term conditions who'd like gentle movement they can do sitting down, and desk workers with stiff necks, shoulders and backs. You need a sturdy chair without wheels and a little clear space. No experience of yoga or exercise is needed, and you don't need to be flexible.

What this course is, and isn't

This course is gentle, self-paced movement in a chair. Standing moves are optional and always done holding the chair, and there's no floor work. It gives general information based on NHS and HSE pages read on 1 November 2026, and it isn't medical advice or a treatment for any condition. If you have a health condition, have had recent surgery or are pregnant, talk to your GP or physiotherapist before you start. Muthoni, Kumud and every other person in the course are fictional.

What will I learn?

• Choose and set up a safe chair and space, and know who should talk to a GP or physiotherapist first, the signs that mean stop and when to call 999
• Sit tall in a relaxed seated posture and breathe easily while you move, with a short warm-up and wind-down for every session
• Move your neck, shoulders and upper back gently with neck turns, shoulder rolls, the chest opener, cactus arms and eagle arms
• Keep your arms, wrists and hands moving with reaches, circles, wrist moves and finger moves, with care for sore joints
• Move your spine gently in every direction with seated cat-cow, side bends and twists, with versions for back pain and osteoporosis
• Look after your hips, knees, ankles and feet with seated marching, knee extensions, knee slides and ankle moves
• Build strength and balance with seated leg lifts, sit to stand and optional standing moves, always holding the chair
• Release tension with tense and release, calming breath and a short guided rest, and plan movement breaks through a working day
• Adapt any move for arthritis, low energy days, wheelchair use or one-sided weakness by making it smaller, slower, more supported or shorter
• Build 5, 10, 20 and 30-minute routines, track how you feel and plan four weeks of chair yoga of your own

Frequently asked questions