Phase 1 · Two Weeks at the Wall

Part of the 8 Week Yoga Program for Balance in Early to Moderate Parkinson’s

30 Minute Yoga Sequence for Parkinson’s, Weeks One and Two

Standing at a wall, then the floor. Slow enough that you can feel what your body is actually doing.

The first two weeks are about accuracy rather than effort. Standing with a hand on a chair and shifting your weight deliberately, turning the spine while seated, and moving in and out of positions slowly on purpose. Everything here is done at a speed that lets you notice what has changed, which is the part of a practice that bradykinesia makes both harder and more valuable.

30 min · Level 1

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When it helps

For the first two weeks, twice a week, on an on-period when your medication is working. Thirty minutes. A solid chair, a wall, and a folded blanket. This is for early to moderate Parkinson’s, where you can stand and walk unaided or with a stick. Practise with a solid chair in front of you for every standing position, and with someone in the room if balance is uncertain. It is an addition to physiotherapy and your medical care rather than a replacement for either. Get up slowly at the end.

Balance

Weight shifting with a hand on a chair. It is the safest form of standing balance work and it is where the whole progression starts.

Posture

Standing tall and reaching upwards works directly against the forward stoop that Parkinson’s tends to produce.

Physical effect

Spine, hips and shoulders. Trunk rotation in particular, which is usually the first thing to go stiff.

Standing, hand on the chair

Eight minutes upright, with a chair back under one hand the whole time. Sit down whenever you want to.

Tadasana

3 min

Mountain Pose

Feet hip width, one hand resting on a chair back. Shift your weight slowly forward, back, then side to side. Small movements, and the hand stays where it is.

Moving your weight around deliberately, inside your own base, with something solid to hold. Every standing position later is a larger version of this.

Learn more about Tadasana

Parshva Tadasana

1 min each side

Mountain Pose with Side Bend

One hand on the chair, the other arm reaching up and over a little. Go nowhere near your limit.

Reaching to the side while staying steady. It is also a side stretch, and the side body shortens quietly over years of a stooped posture.

Learn more about Parshva Tadasana

Urdhva Hastasana

2 min

Upward Salute

Both arms lifting as far as they go, standing near the chair. Look up if that is comfortable, and keep the chair in reach.

Reaching upwards is the direct opposite of the forward stoop. Two minutes of it is worth more than it looks.

Learn more about Urdhva Hastasana

Down to the floor

Fifteen minutes on the floor or on a chair. Getting down and back up is part of the practice, not an interruption to it.

Vajrasana

2 min

Thunderbolt Pose

Kneeling with a folded blanket under the shins, or sitting on a chair if kneeling is not comfortable. Take your time getting here.

The transition down. Doing it slowly and on purpose twice a week is how it stays available to you.

Learn more about Vajrasana

Marjaryasana

2 min

Cat Pose

On hands and knees, rounding the back on the out breath. Or seated, rounding forward over the thighs. Both count.

Spinal movement joined to the breath. It appears in every documented protocol for this condition.

Learn more about Marjaryasana

Bitilasana

2 min

Cow Pose

Chest forward on the in breath, moving slowly between the two. Slower than feels natural.

The extension half. This is the direction that works against the stoop, so give it the same time as the rounding.

Learn more about Bitilasana

Turning

Trunk rotation, both sides, the same on each. Usually the stiffest thing in the whole session.

Parivrtta Sukhasana

2 min each side

Revolved Easy Pose

Sitting, a gentle turn to one side, one hand on the opposite knee. Turn only as far as you can come back from easily.

Axial rotation goes early in Parkinson’s and it is what every turn in a doorway needs.

Learn more about Parivrtta Sukhasana

Bharadvajasana 1

1 min each side

Bharadvaja's Twist

A second turn with the hands where they can help. Small is fine. The spine moves rather than the shoulders.

The same movement with different support, so it is a different thing to practise rather than a repetition.

Learn more about Bharadvajasana 1

Baddha Konasana

2 min

Butterfly Pose

Soles of the feet together, knees resting on cushions. On a chair, simply let the knees widen a little.

The hips, with nothing held open by muscle. It also asks nothing of the arms.

Learn more about Baddha Konasana

Finishing, and getting up

Five minutes, and then a slow deliberate way back to standing. That last part matters more than any pose above it.

Apanasana

2 min

Knees to Chest Pose

On your back, knees towards the chest, arms loose.

A small closed shape on the way to lying flat.

Learn more about Apanasana

Savasana

3 min

Corpse Pose

Lying flat, cushion under the knees. To get up: roll onto your side, wait a breath or two, push up to sitting, wait again, then stand holding the chair.

Blood pressure can drop on standing in Parkinson’s, and the one documented fall in this research happened during a change of position. The pauses are the exercise here.

Learn more about Savasana

Phase 1 · Weeks 1 to 2

This practice is part of a program

It belongs to Two Weeks at the Wall, the first phase of the 8 Week Yoga Program for Balance in Early to Moderate Parkinson’s. The program says how often to practise it, what comes before and after, and when to move on.

See the whole program →

Integration

Twice a week for the first two weeks, plus the ten minute version on other days. Practise during an on-period rather than when medication is wearing off, and stop before you are tired rather than after.

The teacher behind this sequence

Gründer & Autor

Manish Rana

Gründer von Asanaverse.de. Manish schreibt über Yoga, Ayurveda und Meditation und verdankt seine tiefe Verbindung zum Yoga seinen indischen Wurzeln. Mit über 1000 Stunden Yoga Alliance Teacher Training gibt er sein Wissen an die Community weiter.

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