Where Chair Yoga Dance Began – Join Olga for the All-Dancing Class That Started It All!

Hi, I'm Olga. I teach gentle yoga, yoga for seniors, and yoga dance in chairs in Toronto, Canada. And I'm so excited to dance with you today. What is chair yoga dance? It is a delicious dessert made from the best ingredients, yogurt, bread, and music for nourishing our body, mind, and heart. It makes our body more flexible and mobile, our minds sharper, our spirits stronger, and our hearts joyful. So, let's dance together and celebrate our life through movement. Let your body and heart lead you. Celebrate your spirit and enjoy your dance. Please sit comfortably. Feet are parallel. Your spine is straight but not strained. Relax your shoulders and take a few deep breaths. Notice how your inhale merges into the exhale and relax into the soft flow of your breath. Let it take you into the place of stillness, A ray of sun woke you up and you opened your eyes. Inhale. Bring palms together. Inhale and open a window. Breathe in a new day. Inhale. Let's go outside and pick up a flower. Inhale and spread its fragrance. Pick up another flower. Inhale. Exhale. Let's raise your arms. Greet the sun. Breathe in the fresh air. Now let us hug a tree. Keep your feet on the floor. Engage. Inhale. Your spine is straight. Let's hug your favorite tree. Inhale and exhale. Inhale and open your chest. Inhale. Send best wishes to the world and to yourself. Inhale. Send love to the world and to yourself. Dance 2. Fist Massage. Let us now activate our energy and bring circulation to our body and also let us activate our brain by practicing crossover movement. First, we will practice a few movements so you won't be lost. Let us start from stomping your feet. Very good. Well done. What about adding the movements to our left side? Let's go down and up. Keep stomping and change the sides. Very good. We are all good. Let us now practice the second movement. What about left shoulder and left arm? Let's do first the same side and alternate. And what about stomping? Oh, more challenge. Good. Now let us do right shoulder and first right foot and alternate. Good. Let us do left armpit and left foot. And now right foot. Right armpit and right foot. And now left foot. Oh, it's so good for our brain. Excellent. Now I think we are ready to dance. Let's begin. Left side. Slow and fast. Right side. Slow and fast. Left arm and right arm. Left side and left foot. Right. Left armpit, left foot. And right one. Right armpit, right foot. And left foot. Left shoulder, left arm. And alternate and stomping. Right shoulder, right arm. Dance three. Upper body dance. Let's first release any tension from our necks. Release your neck and start making semicircles, trying to relax your neck more and more. Keep breathing deeply. You can close your eyes and let neck make its movements by itself. And slowly let's come into the neutral position. And let us now to do a beautiful exercise. I call it mirror exercise, which will help to stretch our necks and shoulders. Inhale your left arm and look at your left palm like you're looking in the mirror. Smile to your beautiful self. And bring your left palm to the right shoulder. Look at your right shoulder. Feel a nice stretch at the left side of your neck. And inhale your arm back. Exhale. Inhale your right arm. Look at yourself. Say hello. How are you doing? And let's bring to the opposite shoulder. Relax. Look at your shoulder. Feel a nice stretch at the left side of your neck. And come back. Release. Let's do one more time. Inhale. And exhale. Inhale. Smile to yourself. And release. And one more time. Inhale. Bring your palm to the shoulder. Inhale up. And release. Now you are ready to our next dance. Raise your shoulders. And left shoulder. And right. Let's bounce. Playing ball. Circle your wrists as well. And to the side. Let's now count our fingers. Close. And open. And let's touch them. Stretch your left arm. And let's go to India. Improvise. Let's go all the way around. What about playing piano? Once again. And let's climb again. Left leg. And let's change. Straighten your left leg. Let's energize every cell of our body. And let's move every joint. Start by stopping. Feet. Fingers. Tapping toes. Move your bones where the rhythm goes. Dance your dreams. Let's go all over our body. Let's do it. Cross up. Round down. Dig. Wiggle again. There's no mistake and there is no sin. Allow the drum to make your chin grin. So get off your seat. Feel the beat repeat. You don't have to be an athlete. I just jump, dive, tip and jam. Move your feet. Spin, dive, sweat, buzz, and wet on air. So we get together, clap around us. Kick, shuffle, bubble, double up, double down. Move it as you go slow, slow. Down as you go low, low. Cross the earth, floor, floor. Do the body, dog, dog. Do the stomach, core, core. Where we heal our soul. And now right arm. And let's glide. And let's go down. And let us reach. And change. And elbow knee. And change. Shake and wake your bones and skin. Get what they have and what they cost. So lose what you got. Get what you lost. Put your head in your heart. Put your heart in your funk. Come on everybody and move your junk. Elbow brush and bubble back. Wobble this and wobble that. Toss your hands up high. Fling your arms across the sky. And let's spread this energy all around. Dance six. Goddest warrior. Let's dance our power. Power to conquer our inner force, greed, jealousy, fears. And let's celebrate our strength and courage. Let us first, before we dance, practice a few movements. You follow me. Ground your feet. Please hold your chair with your left hand. Inhale. Raise your right arm. And let's turn to the right side. And one, two, three, four. Let's change the position. Inhale. And let's turn to the left. One, two, three, four. And come back. One, two, three, four. Let's do one more time. Inhale. One, two, three, four. Look to the side and come back. One, two, three, four. And now inhale. And we do first movement. One, two, three, four. Keep holding a chair. And now expand your right leg and left arm. And look forward. Inhale your left arm. Look up. Warrior. And exhale. And come back. One, two, three, four. Let's repeat to the other side. Inhale your right arm. One, two, three, four. Hold the chair. Extend your left leg and right arm. Inhale up. One, two, three, four. Look up. And exhale forward. And come back. One, two, three, four. Now we are ready to dance. Our strength and courage. Strong, courageous goddess. Let's support the earth and the sky. And let's greet everybody on the left. Now let us extend the leg and become a warrior. Inhale. Exhale. Strong, courageous. Let's change the position. Straighten your leg. And inhale. One more time. Look up. Celebrate your courage. Come back. And let's now do an ancient warrior. Inhale. Exhale. Feel the power. And let's change the leg. Open your chest. Shoulders together. Let's celebrate our strength, faith, and unity. Let's remember that we all belong to the one family. A family of mankind. And let's dance our love and support that we can give each other. Stay strong. Raise your hands. And side by side. Stay strong. Take a stand. Stay strong. Just spread love and happiness. Stay strong. Keep your faith alive. Raise your hands. In the air. Stay strong. Keep your faith alive. Take a stand. Say a prayer. Stay strong. Keep your faith alive. Stay strong. Take a stand. In the air. Stay strong. Keep your faith alive. Stay strong. May the force be with you. Raise your hands, raise your hands in the air, in the air. Stay strong, keep your faith alive. Lift them up, lift them up. Say a prayer, say a prayer. Stay strong, keep your faith alive. Our final dance is called Everything Here is Alright. It all goes through the sad and happy moments in our life. But it's very important to remember that we are all of us, all of us, deeply loved and supported. And that everything here is alright. Let's dance it. Start by waking up. I want this night to last forever. The smell of the flowers and your hand in mine. Make a circle. Sun slipping slowly over the mountains. And me looking into your eyes. And continue to wait for us. I want this feeling always to linger. Quiet colors of everything. Make a circle with your arms. Wandering peacefully into the night time. In paradise with you. Bring your hands to the heart. Gold shades are everywhere. There's no time, no care. And let's bring this light. With heavenly light. And let's bring it to ourselves. Everything here is alright. And continue to wait for us. It's summer evening. Here in the always. Your loving faces live in my heart. And make a circle. Moments of beauty have brought us together. And nothing can take that apart. Bring your hands to the heart. Gold shades everywhere. No time, no care. And let's bring this light. With heavenly light. And let's bring it to ourselves. Forever. And let's bring this light back.