Adaptive exercise in action: Chair yoga comes to Bigfork
Ten people sit in fold-out chairs, barefoot, in the Swan River Community Hall waiting for Krista Sanderson to start class on Thursday.
Sanderson started chair yoga in March as a way for people with mobility limitations to get in a good stretch and work on balance, flexibility and core strength. The yoga teacher, artist and mother has been teaching yoga in the Flathead for 17 years, and practicing ever since she sustained a running injury training for the Chicago marathon. Her doctor told her to try yoga.
“At the time, I was like, ‘I don’t want to do yoga!’ But I started doing yoga and I loved it,” Sanderson said. She received her certificate in 2002 and has been teaching yoga ever since.
In some of her private lessons, her clients were having difficulties getting up off the floor, balancing and the like.
“I started noticing students in my regular classes that were starting to have similar problems and then they just stopped coming to class altogether because it wasn’t accessible to them anymore,” Sanderson said.
The solution was as simple as a chair. With the addition of a chair for balance and help getting off the floor, yoga became infinitely more accessible.
There are some creaking joints and laughter over the calming music Sanderson plays during her class. She pauses to help people get into position and emphasizes movements that will improve flexibility in the limbs, hands and feet as well as stretch and strengthen muscles.
“I was doing regular yoga, then I had open-heart surgery, a triple bypass, and I just can’t do regular yoga again, so this was kind of a godsend,” 81-year-old student Monica Herrlin said.
Bigfork resident, 73-year-old Linda Stewart, sustained a horse-riding injury and found she was having trouble getting off the ground for regular yoga lessons.
“It’s good because I can still get stretched but I don’t have to lay, because I have a hard time lying flat on my back,” Stewart said.
Sanderson has also had people dealing with other injuries, such as an amputee, attend class to regain their strength.
“I think people need to know that this class is accessible to anyone who’s maybe having some difficulties with balance and flexibility,” Sanderson said. “There are always ways to work around limitations, so they shouldn’t feel like they can’t do it because they’re not flexible, because they can’t balance, because those are all things that we continue to work on through class.”
Sanderson’s first class saw 18 people, and she said it showed her the need for these types of classes in the community. Being in-person gives students the opportunity to see other people dealing with similar mobility issues moving the way they want to and pushes them to keep going.
“[People] think it’s just sit-down. It’s not,” said 81-year-old student Elaine Roosa, who practiced regular yoga before switching to chair yoga after heart surgery and a stroke. “[Sanderson] does the actual yoga poses but in a seated position, if you took away the chair you could still do it.”
Classes are open to all at the Swan River Community Hall Thursdays from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Drop-ins are welcome, or learn more about classes and package plans by visiting thorsonyoga.com, emailing krista@thorsonyoga.com or calling 406-250-5196.
“You can do it. You might have to start a little slow in the beginning but [Sanderson] is very supportive, very helpful,” Stewart said.
Yoga instructor Krista Sanderson after class at the Swan River Community Hall Thursday, July 11. (Avery Howe/Bigfork Eagle)