Chair Forward Bends – Weekly Advanced Class 97

This class uses a chair to assist with forward bends. The forward bending group of poses commonly opens the hips, hamstrings and adductors. In addition to this, the use of a chair can help to give forward bends more of an upper body emphasis. Stiffness or imbalances in the muscles associated with the spine and rib cage can be highlighted and corrected. Using a chair in this way can also help to add a shoulder opening emphasis to poses that might otherwise only involve the legs and hips. The sequence uses the chair to add back releasing twists to each of the forward bends. The frame of the chair is also used as a support to gradually develop triang mukhaikapada paschimottanasana into kraunchasana.