The Mindful Migraine

One of the first posts I ever made on The Mindful Migraine Blog was about Yin Yoga. My neurologist recommended I do a few lessons as a form of mindful movement to help reverse my chronic pain. I mentioned at the time that I felt “no victory” getting out of bed and lying on the floor. Several of the postures also made me feel unwell (anything that puts your head down low or places pressure on a sick tummy is not great). I also wrote in that early blog post that the teachers in the videos I was watching were all much more flexible than me, and when they moved into ‘easy’ postures, I was left behind and felt defeated and tended to give up.

Chair yoga fixes most of those concerns.

Depending on the video that you watch, sitting upright in a firm chair, allows you to keep your head (mostly) steady and upright. There are still some moves that lean you forward, therefore dropping your head and scrunching your tummy, but you can go ‘half-way’ as it were, and it’s not so bad.

[Disclaimer – this is one of those posts where I’m going to remind you (sorry regular readers) that I’m a blogger with migraines not a health care professional, so always check with your doctor that yoga is right for you before you attempt it.]

Even after you’re given the go ahead by your doctor – LISTEN TO YOUR BODY – if something seems too hard it probably is (for now). One of my shoulders always complains when I attempt the moves that lift your arm above your head – so I just go ‘half-way’ or skip it.

I’m a big fan of the Senior Shape Fitness channel and Lauren’s lessons on YouTube. I’m only in my 50’s, but as I’ve mentioned before, years of chronically-unfit-chronic-illness have made me eligible for a ‘senior moment’ as far as I’m concerned. On the channel she’s been uploading chair yoga videos since 2021, here’s two I like:

(30 mins) Chair Yoga Stretch for Beginners, Seniors & Everyone

(30 mins) Chair Yoga Stretch & Strength // Seated Exercises

I’m also a fan of the Yoga with Kassandra channel, and she too has a chair yoga lesson:

(15 mins) 15 min Chair Yoga Class for Seniors & Beginners (youtube.com)

Here’s two other links I’ve tried (the last one is particularly encouraging as the teacher does the class with her mother, so you can pick which range of moves suits you best):

(11 mins) 11 Minute Chair Yoga Practice | Chair Yoga for Beginners & Seniors

(15 mins) Chair Yoga for Seniors, Beginners (youtube.com)

Here’s my TOP TIP from what I’ve learnt: choose your chair wisely.

Always use a dining chair not a lounge chair or a kitchen stool. I know, I know, you’re thinking what the actual heck is this lady talking about – but – sometimes when you’re feeling sick and tired and lazy the idea of ‘chair’ equates to ‘chair I’m sitting in right now’. Having tried to do chair yoga in a lounge chair, I can tell you they are too soft, and you can’t stretch off the side of them. Kitchen stools are not terrible, I got an interesting adapted-work out with the extra height, but until you’re feeling fitter and more stable; give it a miss. A swivel office chair would also be a very bad idea; you’re looking for stability so that YOU can move about – not the chair!

I definitely recommend chair yoga for migraines.

Hope this helps – enjoy!

Take care, Linda x

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PS – but not as an afterthought – I noticed that chair yoga appears in other posts on the WordPress blogging platform, including two of my blogging-friends, Rise & Inspire and Rafaello (who posted at the beginning of the year that he’s a certified Chair Yoga teacher – YAY!). So, here’s a quick shout-out to both of them and their blog posts:

Rise&Inspire: Chair Yoga – Rise&Inspire (riseandinspire.co.in)

Rafaello: Chair Yoga Teacher Certification – Raffaello Palandri’s Blog

PPS – “chair yoga” was one of the first prompts I used to experiment with AI art – here’s a couple of pictures that make me laugh so hard for so many reasons:

PPPS – I’ve made a video playlist on YouTube which includes the chair yoga lessons under the ‘Yin Yoga’ heading: The Mindful Migraine – YouTube (plus all the stretches, Tai Chi and cardio videos I’ve been using to get better.)