You want to know the WHY behind Inclusive Chair Yoga?
- Claire
- Jul 16
- 4 min read
Hi there!
I trust you’re well, happy and healthy!
Over the past few weeks I've been sharing some of my story and how and why Inclusive Chair Yoga came to be.
Today I want to tell you about the meaning behind Inclusive Chair Yoga. Just in case you're new to the email list, welcome! If you’ve missed any of the story so far - you can catch up here: www.getfitwhereyousit.com.au/icy-emails
People often ask me why I chose the name Inclusive Chair Yoga. The answer is simple really. Because over the years I realised this work was never really about the chair. It was always about people...
Let me tell you a little story…I had a stall at the Mind Body Spirit Festival once (which is like a holistic and spiritual event here in Australia), and a woman stopped at my stand.
She told me she'd been living with significant back pain for a long time and that she'd tried everything - physios, different exercises and treatments but each thing she tried only ended up hurting her more. She had become scared to move or to try anything else because of her past experiences.
I was fairly sure it was a matter of just not getting the right movements for her particular needs and gently encouraged her to sit down and try a little Chair Yoga with me. She looked at the chair with a mixture of curiosity and fear, but she did it anyway.
We didn't do anything complicated, just a few simple Chair Yoga movements, pelvic tilts, cat cow, some other spinal and hip movements and some breathing together. It was literally just a few minutes.
But when she stood up...
She had the biggest smile on her face - and she said "Oh my goodness, Im so excited...I can move again!"
My sister was helping me at the stall that day and she looked at me and said "This is WHY you do what you do."
And she was right….but it wasn't really about reducing her pain or teaching Chair Yoga even. It was about helping her to feel hope again, helping her to reconnect with her own body. Helping her realise that maybe movement didn't have to be something to be afraid of anymore, helping her know she could start to heal.
My heart was already full with passion for this work but it felt like it was overflowing that day!
Then a couple of years later, I was teaching a Chair Yoga Teacher Training in another state and as everyone introduced themselves, one person introduced herself and said “when I met you at the Mind Body Spirit festival in Sydney….” and it clicked! I thought her name was so familiar but I didn’t connect the dots until that moment.
It was her! The woman who had come into my stall at MBS, afraid to move her body was now sitting there, becoming a Chair Yoga teacher.
And now she was going to take everything she'd experienced...all the challenges and triumphs and use it to help other people! I was so happy for her and I’ll never forget that moment in the stall, or the moment in the training!
So, that's one example of why it's called Inclusive Chair Yoga. It's because it’s about way more than just exercises on a chair.
I truly believe that we can help every person to feel welcome, to experience Yoga in a way that honours who they are, rather than asking them to become someone else first or trying to make them fit into movements or practices that hurt them or that just aren’t right for their unique body or mind.
To me, inclusion means seeing the human before the poses or even the chair. Working with people as they are, not as we think they should be. Helping someone feel safe, supported and loved enough that they can start to rediscover trust in their own body, to build confidence in themselves, and to feel that they truly belong, just the way they are!
Because when people feel that, when they feel safe enough to simply be themselves…that's when confidence starts to grow, that’s when hope forms and that’s where true healing begins.
And...you just never know what might happen from helping just one person to feel hope again - that person will help someone else, then they’ll help the next person and the next - that’s the ripple effect!
That's why this work means so much to me. And that’s why my mission with Inclusive Chair Yoga is to not only teach exercises on a Chair, but to help create a world where everyone feels hopeful…and feels like they belong - 1 Chair Yogi at a time.
Love Claire xx
PS. If you have had an experience like this with Chair Yoga or know someone who has I would LOVE to hear about it! Feel free to reply to this email and tell me your story!
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