Chair yoga benefits seniors, those with limited mobility, disability, or acute injuries. Wheelchair yoga and gentle chair yoga strengthen body and mind, with research-backed benefits. A 2017 study published in The Journal of Geriatrics found that chair yoga participants with osteoarthritis experienced a statistically significant reduction in pain with daily activities and improvement in walking speed.
A 2012 study found that chair yoga reduced the risk of falls and moderated the anxiety many seniors felt around falling. Falling is the leading cause of both fatal and non-fatal injuries in older adults. It is estimated that 50% of adults over the age of 80 fall annually. This study, along with an earlier study in 2010 conclude that chair yoga for seniors can help reduce the risk and fear of falling.
Researchers examined the effects of chair yoga on physical function, including balance and mobility and found that chair yoga significantly improved the quality of life in the participants. “We think that the physical poses we used in the chair yoga and chair-based exercise groups were an important factor in improving quality of life for the participants in our study,” said Juyoung Park, Ph.D