Chair Yoga Benefits for Chronic Illness with Maria Jones

Moved To Meditate Podcast

My guest today is Maria Jones, author of The Chair Yoga Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Teaching Chair-Based Yoga. In this conversation, Maria also shares her perspective as a person living with Systemic Lupus, and talks about how Chair Yoga benefits those with chronic illness.

You'll hear about Maria's journey with auto-immune disease, getting diagnosed with Systemic Lupus, and dealing with symptoms like joint pain, serious fatigue, and kidney failure. She sought out yoga as a way to support her health, starting with more active yoga, movement, and dance. A little later, she discovered Yin and Restorative Yoga practices, but the breakthrough really came when she learned about Chair Yoga. Now Maria shares Chair Yoga with a variety of students, including elders and people with Multiple Sclerosis.

Chair Yoga Benefits We Discuss:

• how the chair brought in a whole new world of possibilities for an active, but supportive movement practice
• how chair yoga classes provide important social engagement opportunities for students experiencing the isolation of chronic illness or living in nursing homes (called "care homes" in the UK where Maria lives)
• using chair yoga class as an opportunity to work on functional daily life movements that help people maintain independence as they age or cope with a chronic illness

I also asked Maria about her go-to tips for working with fatigue (hint: it's not coffee!). She shared some really helpful ideas for balancing energy through pausing, breathing, and choosing uplifiting (but non-tiring) positions. This episode is full of insights and information, so give it a listen!

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For more information, check out the book The Chair Yoga Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Teaching Chair-Based Yoga by Maria Jones. Or, connect with Maria through her website yuvayoga.co.uk or on Instagram @yuvayogauk.

For all the links and resources mentioned in this episode, find the show notes at movedtomeditate.yoga/podcast.

And, to connect with me (Addie, the podcast host) you can explore my therapeutic yoga and mindful movement classes in Moved To Meditate Class Library!

Lastly, I’m on Instagram at @addie_movedtomeditate (for mindfulness, movement, yoga, and pictures of PNW nature and my adorable kitty, Mustache).