Dear Friends,
Today we're speaking with one of DailyOM's best-selling authors Sadie Nardini about her course, Chair Yoga for Healing, Strength and Mobility. There are so many of us that feel like traditional workouts are too difficult or can negatively impact our current injuries. Sadie has designed a therapeutic fitness routine with your anatomy in mind, to get you aligned and help you feel more vibrant. Let's see what she has to say about it!
- Receive a new lesson every day for 10 days (total of 10 lessons).
- Have lifetime access to the course for reference whenever you want.
- Select the amount you can afford, and get the same course as everyone.
- If you are not 100% satisfied, you may request a refund.
DailyOM: Let's talk about the idea of chair yoga. Who is it for?
Sadie Nardini: Many people think chair yoga is only for those who are older, that it's purely gentle and can't possibly create real transformation. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Chair yoga can be as soothing or as challenging as we want it to be. I designed this course for any student who wants to build more stamina and feel the energizing flow of movement -- without the requirement of using the whole body's unsupported weight. I created this program for anyone who is overwhelmed or roadblocked if they are asked to do a full yoga practice chair-free.
It's also for people who desire more stamina and muscle tone after aging, illness, or injury. I created this course for family members and friends to give to those around them who might benefit from it, and for yoga teachers who would like more knowledge and inspiration about how to teach chair yoga or give helpful modifications to their students. At its foundation, using the chair provides instant support, safety, security, and balance, so you can focus on range of motion, safer alignment, breathing, and staying present as you create big changes in detox, strengthening, and flexibility. I'm an advanced physical practitioner and I love using the chair as a path to simplify and deepen my own practice too.
DailyOM: Your awesome mom, Janet, joins you in your workout videos. Tell us about this.
SN: My mom came to the shoot on the first day dressed to the nines! Janet is awesome. She was the first rock star role model in my life -- the actual lead singer of a rock band when I was growing up -- and I was so proud of her willingness to be vulnerable and show her learning and limitations on camera. In this course she mostly does the chair yoga in real time -- no rehearsal! This was on purpose so that people could see that it's okay to move and ask questions and figure things out like a real person and not a yoga model. Many students have commented that this makes them feel welcomed and totally normal to be right where they are. That's exactly what I wanted! While Janet's on the chair, I do the same class with her but on the yoga mat, so if a student is comfortable on the floor, or can progress there over time, they can follow along with me. Or, if the chair is necessary, you have Mom to watch -- and me constantly guiding you both!
DailyOM: Tell us about the type of yoga poses and movements students can expect to do in this course.
SN: We include all the main yoga poses: spinal warm-ups and breath, lunges, warriors, forward folds, hip openers, core and arm strengtheners, twists, backbends, and more. But we do these in any spectrum you are able to, even if you can't move at all or can only move minimally. The common misconceptions out there are that: a) you have to be a Cirque du Soleil contortionist to do yoga, or b) you can't do yoga if you're inflexible and not as mobile or strong as you would like. This is actually a dangerous mindset because it keeps people from doing something, anything, for their bodies, minds, and energy. In fact, even a few minutes of breath and micro-movements can ignite a host of healing and fitness benefits.
DailyOM: In lesson 10 you teach that even if your physical body cannot reach a full range of motion, your energy body can.
SN: I wish I could claim that concept as my own, but I was in a profound teaching workshop about a decade ago with an instructor who was paralyzed from the chest down and in a chair to get around. He had everyone in his class, from fully abled bodies to differently abled ones, like the woman who had a stroke and was told by her doctors that she'd likely never lift her arms again. She was despondent because she used to dance. He showed us something that I'm able to pay forward in this course. Yogis believe that we have an energy body underlying and infusing our physical one, one that is never harmed by the outer body becoming weak, sick, or injured -- even from loss of limbs! Therefore, if you envision, as you move, where your physical limitations stop you, the energy body continues into full expression, and you can gain the same psycho-spiritual (mind-energy) feeling as if you were, say, a prima ballerina dancing your way through each movement. Even if your body can't move at all!
This causes joy, which sparks stress reduction, less bloating, better sleep, deeper healing, lower blood pressure -- and it's all proven by science. I'll tell you something incredible: the woman who had the stroke closed her eyes as he had her inhale and exhale for five minutes, imagining her energy arms lifting and lowering. At the end, he said, "Open your eyes." Her actual arm was at shoulder height! Everyone ran and hugged her. It was a miracle moment. I will always carry this perspective into all I teach and do.
DailyOM: Tell us some feedback you have received from participants.
SN: A woman named Betty wrote me a while back and asked if this course might be right for her. She was 56 and depressed because her husband had passed, and she was diagnosed with MS. She told me all she had was her dog to keep her company, and she felt like she'd received a death sentence, so why even try? Yet the fact that she reached out meant that there was still hope for her to make something beautiful and possible out of a time that seemed so dark. She did the course, and halfway through, I received this letter:
"I have been going really slow, but it is finally starting to work for me! The MS tightens the muscles in my body sometimes, especially in my legs. It had my toes tightening like making a fist. Sadie, I can play my toes like a piano now! I have not been able to do that for a long time. I just had to tell you. I can see that it is really helping me. I am even off the chair and standing now!"
This is why I made the course. In the end, we are all just here to help each other home. Let's dance while we're at it, however we're able.
Thank you, Sadie. It's wonderful to hear how this course is helping people. If you are curious about chair yoga and would like to experience it for yourself, check it out. Until next time.
Be well,
DailyOM
