By Ritu Baveja: Most people consider Yoga to be only Asanas (or poses) in which practitioners twist their bodies in difficult shapes. This is understandable as the Yoga pictures in magazines or net show only beautiful persons doing incredible Asanas in a beautiful studio or nature. This discourages normal people who are not flexible and do not have access to a studio or have physical disabilities.
However, Yoga is more than Asanas and everyone can benefit from its health benefits irrespective of their age or physical fitness.
Chair Yoga is an adaptation specifically developed for people in offices, sedentary people, the elderly or who are not so fit but still will like to benefit from Yoga.
Yoga aims to energize the body through Pranayama, drawing in of life force energy- Prana or Chi, Asanas tailored to the capability and situation of student and calming influence of mindfulness techniques.
All of these can be done without requiring a mat and sports clothing.
A Chair Yoga session aims not only to exercise and stretch core muscles but also at infusing the student with peace. The greatest benefit of Yoga comes by reduction of the stress hormone “Cortisol”. Office people often have high levels of stress triggering Cortisol release and causing immunity to dip, body to store fat leading to obesity, low energy levels, allergies and frequent sickness. Many medical benefits of Yoga can be attributed to this reduction of Cortisol in our body. This is of special importance to people working in Office or who spend 3 to 4 hours commuting in Jakarta traffic.
Chair Yoga has also been formulated keeping work environment in mind. During training, people can be in their normal work attire. After initial learning, they can continue to practice with micro breaks at their own desk or friendly meetings with other colleagues providing an even greater advantage to them and team.
One of the eight pillars of Yoga is Ahimsa or non-violence. In Yoga, it is a must that we do not treat our own body with Violence. A Yoga session is not a competition where students have to do “better” than others or do a more advanced pose than what others can do. Each student is encouraged to slowly work their way through Yoga Practices focusing only on their own body and extending their capabilities at their own pace.
A proper Yoga session should leave you charged with energy and in a happy state of mind and not have you end up exhausted or hurting.
We look forward to you joining us for a session of Chair Yoga with Ritu Baveja.
Upcoming Workshop:
Date & Time: Saturday, 26th April from 10 a.m – 12 noon
Venue: Namaste Resto, Menara Gracia, Kuningan
Fee: Rp 100,000/per person (Masala Tea and Samosas will be provided)
This event is open to the public. Please
or call Elly at +62-21-5228775 during office hours
