5 Yoga Poses You Can Do Sitting Down

You might be surprised to learn that you can practice yoga anywhere—even from the comfort of your desk chair. Chair yoga poses are adaptations of asanas that deliver the same stretch but with increased accessibility, less strain on joints, and generally more support.

Physical accessibility aside, popping into a chair yoga pose is just plain practical. We live in a culture that revolves around all things sedentary, and although traditional yoga asana, or postures, can help undo some of the damage all that sitting does to your body, there’s no harm in taking some shapes while you’re in said seat.

Options for poses modified for the chair are practically endless, but the following poses provide a solid starting point.

5 Chair Yoga Poses to Try Right Now

A straight-spined seat, twisted limbs, and more of our favorite chair yoga poses benefit your body and mind sans any standing.

1. Seated Easy Pose

Yes, simply sitting in your chair counts as yoga—with a few extra considerations, of course. Finding Easy Pose, or cross-legged seat on the floor, challenges you to engage your back and core, straighten your spine, and invite a sense of (you guessed it) ease. But it lands a bit different when practiced in a chair.

Shifting your weight toward the front of your chair helps ensure you’re not just slumping in your seat, while rooting your feet directly below your knees and extending up from your tailbone create that coveted length along the spine. Find the posture, find the ease, and let go.

2. Seated Eagle Pose

When you eliminate the balancing aspect of the posture, Eagle Pose calls for a different kind of focus. Crossing your legs and wrapping your arms—with elbows raised to shoulder height—opens your shoulders and upper back while only gently compressing arms and legs. Concentrate on sitting up a little straighter, inviting your hips to open, and breathing deeply into your upper back and hips in this seated stretch.

3. Seated Triangle Pose

A seated side stretch and leg extension can help relieve some of the tension that usually comes with ample chair time. Seated Triangle Pose takes any undue weight off your ankles and removes the temptation to try and touch your hand to the floor so that you can focus on your core, side body, and overall lengthening through your body.

One of the main benefits of this seated shape is its potential to help alleviate the low back pain so often caused by sitting. Rather than waiting for the tension to set in before you decide to stretch, spend a few breaths in this pose on each side throughout your work day.

4. Seated Upward Salute

Go ahead, throw you hands up in the air! Upward Salute is all about upward extension. Even when seated, this posture encourages you to lift from your hip joints, stretching and strengthening your upper body, from core and spine to shoulders and arms. Stay static, reach as tall as you can with your fingertips, or gently sway from side to side to find length in this pose.

5. Seated Camel Pose

Now, lean back. Camel Pose is a challenging backbend that becomes a touch more accessible with the help of a chair. Easing backward and opening your heart helps to energize your body and mind without placing any unwanted strain on your hips or lower back—a perfect antidote to your midafternoon slump.

Additionally, given that seated Camel is effectively the opposite of the keyboard hunch so many of us have come to know, taking this shape just feels good. Skip your next scroll session and spend some time here instead.