When people hear the word ‘yoga’, they think of contorted poses, downward dogs and sweaty vinyasas. But the physical demands of this kind of practice mean that it’s not for everyone.
That is why chair yoga has become such a welcome addition to the yogic tradition, and it has surged in popularity around the country. Performed aided by a chair or in seated support – chair yoga offers all the benefits of yoga, but it can be adapted to suit individual needs.
Hazel Nicholl, the founder of Chair Yoga Ireland, has been teaching chair yoga for about 10 years. She says the practice “has a quiet kind of magic.”
Take a seat
Hazel is based in Ballyedmond, Gorey, and before she became a yoga teacher, she worked as a carer for over 14 years. Hazel regularly practised yoga, but she discovered chair yoga when accompanying some of the service users to a class.
“I went to the class and there was an amazing teacher,” she recalls. “It was just incredible. From the start to the finish, how accessible it was. It’s just so incredible that everybody can do it.
“During the class, I thought: this is what I want to learn to do. So that day I finished my shift, I drove around the corner and instantly rang a yoga studio and asked when the next teacher training was happening. I enrolled straight away.”
Hazel Nicholl performing a calf lift. \ Patrick Browne
Hazel qualified as a yoga instructor and went on to do additional training in ‘Yoga for adults with additional needs’ in London. She then completed specialised chair yoga training.
Now, Hazel delivers chair yoga classes online and in-person for people of different abilities, seniors and carers. She also delivers corporate chair yoga classes in workplaces where she teaches employees how to use their chair throughout the working day to help release tension in their back, neck and shoulders, and reduce stress.
“What happens in a chair yoga class isn’t a watered down version of yoga; it’s yoga distilled to its essentials,” says Hazel.
Hazel Nicholl performing cross coordination in the chair. \ Patrick Browne
“Breath, awareness, movement, and connection. Even in a seated practice, we draw from the same traditions that have supported human wellbeing and health for thousands of years. Chair yoga uses ancient practices and adapts them with care.
“It makes us feel great when we move in every direction, but with a chair, you can still do it safely and get movement into every part of your body,” she continues.
Hazel Nicholl performing the seated mountain pose with palms open. \ Patrick Browne
Alongside the physical practice focused on mobility, circulation, and cross coordination, Hazel’s classes also feature a lot of breath work and mantras (repeated sounds or words that help steady the mind).
“One of the greatest gifts of a yoga or chair yoga practice is that what we learn doesn’t just stay in our practice. We build ourselves our own wellbeing toolbox that we can use throughout our day.
“If you find yourself really stressed, it’s a really good practice to breathe in and count your breaths. Inhale for a count of three and exhale for a count of five.
“Exhaling longer has so many benefits. When you exhale, it sends a signal that directly triggers a relaxation response within your nervous system.
“Our breath really reflects our state of being. Feelings of uncertainty or indecisiveness can often accompany shallow breathing. So with chair yoga, you start to become more aware of your breath and notice the connection between your breath and how you feel.
“A lot of people are so stressed and busy, and we are often just in our minds the whole time. Yoga is that connection between your mind and your body, and you’re using the tools that you have. You’re using your breath, which is always with you, and you’re using your body, which is always with you.”
Hazel’s ultimate goal is to set up a chair yoga directory, and map all the chair yoga teachers across the country to make them easier to find. She also will start delivering teacher training from next year. “It’s part of the bigger picture and where I’d like to see it going.”
Caring for the carer
Geraldine Riley, a full-time carer from Newbridge, Co Kildare, has been participating in online chair yoga classes since 2020, initially through a family care support group.
“It’s probably the highlight of my week. I adore it,” she says, enthusiastically. “I absolutely live for it, and particularly during Covid, because I have two children with additional needs, so we were quite cut off during that time.
“Chair yoga was definitely something that I could pencil in during the week, and that was one hour which I couldn’t wait for. It’s continued since that and I still get an enormous sense of excitement and joy from it.”
When Geraldine started chair yoga, “there was a whole heap of people that that were in my life that required full-time care. I was on career break from my job and it was quite exhausting.
“The chair yoga was offered online and that was really important as well, because at that stage, I couldn’t really leave the house. My youngest child was here full-time, and it was hard to go anywhere, it was a two-person role between myself and my husband looking after him.
Geraldine Riley initially started chair yoga through a family care support group.
“Getting the opportunity to do things online was just so much easier. It took the hassle out of being gone longer than was necessary from the house.
“Being a carer and having all of those other responsibilities, you always leave yourself last in the pecking order. You do feel sometimes a bit guilty about self-care stuff and but this was just one that I latched on to.”
Four years ago, Geraldine was also diagnosed with the neurological movement disorder called dystonia, and chair yoga has been a great form of physical exercise for her.
“I wouldn’t be able to do full yoga, but I can do chair yoga because it’s something within my range. With dystonia, balance is a big issue, so I would be quite anxious about doing an exercise where I feel like I could topple over, that’s why the chair yoga is perfect.”
Maureen Haskins is another convert. Maureen, who has used a powered wheelchair for the past three years, started chair yoga at the end of last year. “I was trying to find some form of exercise for myself, and I found chair yoga online,” she says.
“It’s hard when you’re in this chair to get exercise. I did do yoga originally when I was young, so the chair yoga really interested me.
“I am in the chair but it doesn’t limit me.”
Maureen attends an online class once per week. She says it makes a huge difference having an instructor to guide her through the poses.
“At home, you say you’ll do exercise but it’s hard to do it. You need someone to instruct you, and you need the motivation,” she says, with a laugh.
“It’s structured and it’s brilliant, because you’re moving all parts of your body. But you’re also doing the mindfulness, just relaxing your mind and breathing techniques as well. With chair yoga, it doesn’t matter what age you are, you can do it. It’s so accessible to everyone.”
See chairyogaireland.ie
When people hear the word ‘yoga’, they think of contorted poses, downward dogs and sweaty vinyasas. But the physical demands of this kind of practice mean that it’s not for everyone.
That is why chair yoga has become such a welcome addition to the yogic tradition, and it has surged in popularity around the country. Performed aided by a chair or in seated support – chair yoga offers all the benefits of yoga, but it can be adapted to suit individual needs.
Hazel Nicholl, the founder of Chair Yoga Ireland, has been teaching chair yoga for about 10 years. She says the practice “has a quiet kind of magic.”
Take a seat
Hazel is based in Ballyedmond, Gorey, and before she became a yoga teacher, she worked as a carer for over 14 years. Hazel regularly practised yoga, but she discovered chair yoga when accompanying some of the service users to a class.
“I went to the class and there was an amazing teacher,” she recalls. “It was just incredible. From the start to the finish, how accessible it was. It’s just so incredible that everybody can do it.
“During the class, I thought: this is what I want to learn to do. So that day I finished my shift, I drove around the corner and instantly rang a yoga studio and asked when the next teacher training was happening. I enrolled straight away.”
Hazel Nicholl performing a calf lift. \ Patrick Browne
Hazel qualified as a yoga instructor and went on to do additional training in ‘Yoga for adults with additional needs’ in London. She then completed specialised chair yoga training.
Now, Hazel delivers chair yoga classes online and in-person for people of different abilities, seniors and carers. She also delivers corporate chair yoga classes in workplaces where she teaches employees how to use their chair throughout the working day to help release tension in their back, neck and shoulders, and reduce stress.
“What happens in a chair yoga class isn’t a watered down version of yoga; it’s yoga distilled to its essentials,” says Hazel.
Hazel Nicholl performing cross coordination in the chair. \ Patrick Browne
“Breath, awareness, movement, and connection. Even in a seated practice, we draw from the same traditions that have supported human wellbeing and health for thousands of years. Chair yoga uses ancient practices and adapts them with care.
“It makes us feel great when we move in every direction, but with a chair, you can still do it safely and get movement into every part of your body,” she continues.
Hazel Nicholl performing the seated mountain pose with palms open. \ Patrick Browne
Alongside the physical practice focused on mobility, circulation, and cross coordination, Hazel’s classes also feature a lot of breath work and mantras (repeated sounds or words that help steady the mind).
“One of the greatest gifts of a yoga or chair yoga practice is that what we learn doesn’t just stay in our practice. We build ourselves our own wellbeing toolbox that we can use throughout our day.
“If you find yourself really stressed, it’s a really good practice to breathe in and count your breaths. Inhale for a count of three and exhale for a count of five.
“Exhaling longer has so many benefits. When you exhale, it sends a signal that directly triggers a relaxation response within your nervous system.
“Our breath really reflects our state of being. Feelings of uncertainty or indecisiveness can often accompany shallow breathing. So with chair yoga, you start to become more aware of your breath and notice the connection between your breath and how you feel.
“A lot of people are so stressed and busy, and we are often just in our minds the whole time. Yoga is that connection between your mind and your body, and you’re using the tools that you have. You’re using your breath, which is always with you, and you’re using your body, which is always with you.”
Hazel’s ultimate goal is to set up a chair yoga directory, and map all the chair yoga teachers across the country to make them easier to find. She also will start delivering teacher training from next year. “It’s part of the bigger picture and where I’d like to see it going.”
Caring for the carer
Geraldine Riley, a full-time carer from Newbridge, Co Kildare, has been participating in online chair yoga classes since 2020, initially through a family care support group.
“It’s probably the highlight of my week. I adore it,” she says, enthusiastically. “I absolutely live for it, and particularly during Covid, because I have two children with additional needs, so we were quite cut off during that time.
“Chair yoga was definitely something that I could pencil in during the week, and that was one hour which I couldn’t wait for. It’s continued since that and I still get an enormous sense of excitement and joy from it.”
When Geraldine started chair yoga, “there was a whole heap of people that that were in my life that required full-time care. I was on career break from my job and it was quite exhausting.
“The chair yoga was offered online and that was really important as well, because at that stage, I couldn’t really leave the house. My youngest child was here full-time, and it was hard to go anywhere, it was a two-person role between myself and my husband looking after him.
Geraldine Riley initially started chair yoga through a family care support group.
“Getting the opportunity to do things online was just so much easier. It took the hassle out of being gone longer than was necessary from the house.
“Being a carer and having all of those other responsibilities, you always leave yourself last in the pecking order. You do feel sometimes a bit guilty about self-care stuff and but this was just one that I latched on to.”
Four years ago, Geraldine was also diagnosed with the neurological movement disorder called dystonia, and chair yoga has been a great form of physical exercise for her.
“I wouldn’t be able to do full yoga, but I can do chair yoga because it’s something within my range. With dystonia, balance is a big issue, so I would be quite anxious about doing an exercise where I feel like I could topple over, that’s why the chair yoga is perfect.”
Maureen Haskins is another convert. Maureen, who has used a powered wheelchair for the past three years, started chair yoga at the end of last year. “I was trying to find some form of exercise for myself, and I found chair yoga online,” she says.
“It’s hard when you’re in this chair to get exercise. I did do yoga originally when I was young, so the chair yoga really interested me.
“I am in the chair but it doesn’t limit me.”
Maureen attends an online class once per week. She says it makes a huge difference having an instructor to guide her through the poses.
“At home, you say you’ll do exercise but it’s hard to do it. You need someone to instruct you, and you need the motivation,” she says, with a laugh.
“It’s structured and it’s brilliant, because you’re moving all parts of your body. But you’re also doing the mindfulness, just relaxing your mind and breathing techniques as well. With chair yoga, it doesn’t matter what age you are, you can do it. It’s so accessible to everyone.”
See chairyogaireland.ie
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