Phase 1 · Three Weeks Seated

Part of the 8 Week Adaptive Yoga Program for Balance After Stroke

10 Minute Seated Yoga Sequence After Stroke

Ten minutes in a chair, for the third day of the week and for any day the longer session is too much.

This is the short one and it never leaves the chair. Ten minutes, four movements, both sides equally. It exists because frequency turned out to matter more than length in this research: the studies that ran twice a week for eight weeks found balance improvements, and the one that ran once a week for ten weeks did not.

10 min · Level 1

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When it helps

A third day each week, and any day the longer session is not going to happen. Ten minutes in a chair. This is for the chronic, stable phase, at least six months after a stroke and after rehabilitation has finished. It is an addition to your rehab rather than a replacement for it. Every study behind it ran in person with a yoga therapist who could steady someone. Practise where you can reach a wall or a solid chair, and with someone nearby if standing is uncertain.

Balance

Weight shifting and trunk rotation, seated. The two components that transfer most directly into standing up and turning around.

The affected side

Both sides, same time each, less able side first.

Frequency

Ten minutes done three times a week beats thirty minutes done once. That is the clearest pattern in this research.

Ten minutes, seated

Four movements. Nothing here requires you to stand up or get to the floor.

Sukhasana

2 min

Easy Pose

Sitting, both feet flat, weight even. Shift slowly to one hip, then the other, a few times.

Moving your weight from side to side on purpose is balance training with the floor still underneath you.

Learn more about Sukhasana

Marjaryasana

2 min

Cat Pose

Sitting, round the back forward over the thighs on the out breath, then come back up. Slowly, several times.

Spinal movement joined to the breath, in the seated version. Nothing here needs the floor.

Learn more about Marjaryasana

Dandasana

2 min

Staff Pose

Sitting tall. Shoulders up and down, then shoulder blades drawing together and apart. Both together, even if one moves less.

Bilateral by design. The side that does less still comes along, which is the point.

Learn more about Dandasana

Parivrtta Sukhasana

1 min each side

Revolved Easy Pose

A gentle turn to each side, one hand on the opposite knee. Less able side first, and match the other one to it.

Rotation is what every turn in a doorway or a car seat asks for.

Learn more about Parivrtta Sukhasana

Apanasana

1 min

Knees to Chest Pose

If you are on a bed or the floor, knees towards the chest. In a chair, draw one knee up at a time with both hands.

A small ending, with a chair version so the sequence is complete without a transfer.

Learn more about Apanasana

Savasana

1 min

Corpse Pose

Sit or lie still for a minute, then get up slowly, holding something.

One minute, and then a deliberate unhurried stand. That last part is the exercise.

Learn more about Savasana

Phase 1 · Weeks 1 to 3

This practice is part of a program

It belongs to Three Weeks Seated, the first phase of the 8 Week Adaptive Yoga Program for Balance After Stroke. The program says how often to practise it, what comes before and after, and when to move on.

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Integration

A third day each week throughout the eight weeks, and afterwards for as long as you like. It works in a chair at a kitchen table.

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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Every asana in this practice has a page of its own. You will find alignment cues, what the shape actually works on, and the energetics behind it.

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