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At your own pace

A quiet start

A supported seat, a simple hand gesture, and the natural breath. These are three optional guides to explore at your own pace. You can stop after any one.

Before you begin

Before you begin

A stable chair.
A little space.

Use a sturdy chair without wheels on a non-slip floor. Your feet should rest flat, with your knees near a right angle. Secure the chair against a wall for standing work. Keep breathing; use a comfortable range and stop if you feel pain, dizziness, or unusual breathlessness. Seek urgent medical help for chest pressure, sudden weakness, or severe shortness of breath. If you are pregnant, recovering from surgery, or managing a heart, blood-pressure, eye, spinal, or balance condition, ask your clinician about suitable modifications. This is educational guidance, not a substitute for medical care or individual instruction.

If you have osteoporosis or a vertebral fracture, seek individualized guidance before spinal bending or twisting; use the modifications advised for you.

Guidance: NCCIH, NHS seated exercise, and Too Fit To Fracture.

Find your seat
01

Seated

Seated Mountain

adapted from ताडासन, tāḍāsana

Find a steady seated base and make space for comfortable movement.

Seated Mountain: Find a steady seated base and make space for comfortable movement.
Move within your own comfortable range. The illustration shows the shape, not a required depth.

Set up

Sit near the front half of the chair. Place feet hip-width apart, knees over ankles, and hands on the thighs.

The movement

  1. Inhale and lengthen from the sitting bones through the crown.
  2. Exhale and soften the ribs over the pelvis while the feet press evenly into the floor.
  3. Inhale and reach the arms forward and overhead within a comfortable shoulder range.
  4. Exhale and return the hands to the thighs without collapsing the chest.

Breath & pace
Hold the upright seat for 3 to 5 breaths.

Chair adaptations from the supplied guide by Rajiv Lulla. See the general exercise and safety references.

Background and sources

Sources & teaching context

Exercise guidance and traditional references serve different purposes. Traditional descriptions are not clinical evidence.

  1. Yoga: Effectiveness and Safety

    NCCIH. General guidance on yoga, beginners, modifications, and safety.

  2. Sitting exercises

    NHS. Chair selection and introductory seated exercise.

  3. Strength exercises

    NHS. Introductory strength movements, including the wall press-up.

  4. Older Adult Activity Guidelines

    CDC. Strength and balance as part of a broader physical-activity pattern.

  5. Too Fit To Fracture

    Giangregorio and colleagues. Consensus recommendations, including individualized spine-sparing movement.

Next guide

Rest your hands

Let the meeting of the hands mark a small pause in your day. Feel their contact and give your attention to the moment you are in.

Both palms meet in front of the chest, with fingers pointing upward and wrists at ease.Enlarge image

Anjali: palms meet lightly, fingers upward.

Illustrated hand placement

Settle in

Sit comfortably on a chair or in a seated position you already use. Let the shoulders settle.

Start with your hands resting on your thighs and your face relaxed.

Place your hands

  1. Bring both hands in front of your chest, palms facing each other.
  2. Let the palms and fingers meet lightly, with the fingers pointing upward.
  3. Keep the hands near the center of your chest and allow the elbows to relax downward.
  4. Soften the pressure between the palms until the gesture feels easy to maintain.

Breath and attention

Let the breath come and go naturally. If you wish, notice an incoming breath and the outgoing breath that follows, without trying to meet a count.

What to notice

  • Where do you feel the contact between the two hands?
  • Can the shoulders and jaw stay relaxed while the hands meet?

Finish gently

Separate the palms, lower both hands to your thighs, and let the fingers rest.

Make it easier

Hold the hands a little lower or leave some space between the palms. Comfortable contact is enough.

Take care

Avoid forcing sore fingers straight or pressing the palms flat. Release the gesture if pain, numbness, or increasing strain appears.

Sources and meaning

The teaching sources use joined hands in the prayer position. Joseph LePage identifies this as Anjali and relates it to reverence and devotion. This seated introduction adapts that hand position for a quiet pause. You may bring a sense of greeting, gratitude, or attentive presence to it.

Next guide

Notice the breath
01

Begin here

Natural Breath Awareness

Settle into your seat and notice the breath you already have.

Set up

Sit comfortably with your feet supported. Rest your hands on the thighs. Keep your eyes open or softly lowered.

How to practise

  1. Notice the next inhale and exhale without changing their depth or speed.
  2. Let the shoulders and jaw soften. You do not need to take a bigger breath.
  3. When attention wanders, gently return to the feeling of breathing.
  4. Finish by noticing your feet and the support of the chair.

Breath & pace
Stay for a few comfortable breaths. There is no target count and no breath hold.

Introductory attention practice for this guide.

Sources and scope

Main edition

YOGA, October 2020

Passage for this reading

  1. YOGA, October 2020

    “Importance of Breath Awareness,” printed pp. 36–38.

    Bihar School of Yoga. “Importance of Breath Awareness,” pp. 36–38; “Bhramari,” pp. 49–50. Teaching statements are not adopted as medical claims.

  2. Basic Practice of Some Pranayamas

    “Pranayamas for contemplation and meditation,” PDF p. 5.

    Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani, International Centre for Yoga Education and Research. Source page numbering refers to the PDF; hand descriptions compared independently.

What this edition covers

A modern introductory adaptation with complete guidance and source comparisons.

Limits and differences

The prose above identifies material differences. Traditional explanations and promised attainments are attributed to their sources; they are not clinical evidence. Review date: September 11, 2026.

These complete instructions are also available in their individual guides. Their teaching sources and adaptations remain beside the practice.