Difficulty: Medium
Impact Level: Normal
Target Body Parts: triceps, lower back, shoulders, glutes, quadriceps
How to do Chair Pose
Back to ExercisesInstructions
From a standing position, pull your belly button to your spine for core activation. Press your feet down into the floor and tuck your coccyx (tailbone) slightly to your chest to feel length in your lower back. Reach your arms out wide and trace a big circle until reaching straight upwards with hands slightly apart. Bend your knees and sit backwards, going as low as you can. Check your core stays active and your spine is straight. Hold the position for a few breaths and then come out by pushing into the feet and standing upwards, and then lower your arms to your side.
The most common mistake in this pose is to bend the knees far forward of the ankles with the hips coming towards the heels. Instead take the hips far backwards as though sitting on a chair behind you. The knees should stay above the ankles so you can still see your toes.
How to make Chair Pose easier
To make this pose easier keep your hands on your hips and only go part of the way down.
How to make Chair Pose more challenging
To make this pose harder, once in the pose lift your heels so you are on tip-toes. Then see if you can go deeper until your hips come to knee level.
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