Bench Yoga

Great for Practicing Outdoors!

Chair yoga is a popular alternative to conventional practice because it's easier and more inclusive and suitable for people of all abilities.

Another option is bench yoga, or practicing on an incline. If you struggle with a press up or have wrists that are tender, organizing into a plank on an incline is easier and more accessible. By reducing the effort you will be able to do a full range of motion press up and get the upper chest and back muscle toning that push ups offer. Plus the bench offers a wider range of yoga asana options that your can't really do sitting in a chair.

Bench yoga is a great way to reduce the effort and strain you might experience when you practice yoga on the horizontal. And bench yoga opportunities are everywhere, from the office to the kitchen and my favorite, outdoors using park benches.

Check out these short clips to get the idea, start with clip 1 and make sure you can activate before you practice.

And don't forget to have fun and play around.

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In my opinion it's critical to set up your fascial activations prior to practice. Here I review the basics and pay particular attention to rolling the shoulders back and down.

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Sun salutations, or Surya Namaskar, are a popular sequence of yoga asana. This is a popular contemporary sequence, or vinyasa, and different styles of yoga have slightly different interpretations. It's quite a challenging practice and builds strength with repetition., particularly if you practice horizontally on the mat. For beginners you can familiarize yourself with these Sun Salutations Step by Step and then find a bench and see how you go.

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While you are at it, why not give your ham strings a nice stretch? Play with your single leg balances too.

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Once you are comfortable using a bench there is no reason why you can't attempt a wider range of asana.

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More leg work and playing around.

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Here is a toe activation and full body activation warm up and review.

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And this is a bit of balance fun with a pylo metric press off the bench and toe stand recovery, find your center line!

Thanks to Jai for shooting these clips and helping with the sound.