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Chair Yoga Coming To Newtown

Starting Thursday, Oct. 6, Yogasphere will offer a one-hour weekly Chair Yoga class.

Are you someone who could benefit from doing yoga but have a disability or health issue that holds you back?

Starting Thursday, Oct. 6, will offer a different kind of yoga that you don’t even have to get out of your seat to do.

It’s called “chair yoga” – a class designed for people with disabilities, health issues, joint problems, or weight challenges. The one-hour class will be held weekly at 2:30 p.m.

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Instructors Darla Lux and Debbie Wenclawiak will lead the class, which is all done while sitting in a chair.  This is the first time Yogasphere has offered a regular chair yoga class. In the past, they’ve offered special sessions.

“We encompass the whole yoga experience in a chair,” Lux told Newtown Patch in April, before a special chair yoga class was held at the studio. “It’s really nice for seniors that want to try yoga but don’t want to feel like they have to get down on a mat,” Lux explained.

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Participants get the benefits of a complete yoga class, including a warm up, the warrior series, sun salutations and shivasina, which is the final resting pose.

It’s good for beginners, too. “People don’t feel intimidated like they have to get up and do downward dog,” Lux said.

Lux, who trained for chair yoga at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Massachusetts, said participants get a nice stretch, complete with breathing exercises and joint work during the class.

Yogasphere has the necessary props, like blocks and blankets, to help participants feel more supported in the chair as they do the poses. 

The concept of chair yoga was developed by Lakshmi Voelker, a teacher at Kripalu. Her friend was struck with arthritis in her 30s, Lux explained. Voelker knew there was still so much that could be done in a chair, so she was inspired to develop the seated poses for her friend. Then, she started a class to expand the benefits to others, Lux said, adding “her friend loved the class and six months later she returned to the mat.”

The class is $15. Register online or drop in. Yogasphere has an elevator so it’s wheelchair friendly.


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