AP lifestyles reporter explains the origins, benefits of chair yoga and its surge in popularity
In this episode of 'The Story Behind the AP Story,' Italie explains the origins of chair yoga, its benefits and how it works.
Haya Panjwani, host: Hi, I'm Haya Panjwani, and I'm the host of 'The Story Behind the AP Story.' Today we're joined by Leanne Italie, a lifestyles reporter for The Associated Press. Hi, Leanne. How are you doing?
Leanne Italie, AP lifestyles reporter: I'm great. How are you?
PANJWANI: I'm great. Thank you for asking. Today we're going to talk about
chair yoga
. What is it?
ITALIE: Yeah, sure, so chair yoga has a really sort of interesting and important history. Traditional yoga done on the floor on mats is over 5,000 years old, but chair yoga is a relatively new offshoot.
In 1982, a yoga instructor named Lakshmi Voelker noticed that a student of hers in a traditional yoga class who was in her 30s and suffered from arthritis was having trouble getting down on the floor. So, Voelker decided to adapt some poses for use in a chair. And she has since sort of become the guru of chair yoga, and she has written, since co-written a book about it.
Chair yoga has really gone a long way in boosting the accessibility of yoga itself to many age groups, including older people and people who have physical limitations.
PANJWANI: Are there any communities that benefit from chair yoga in particular?
ITALIE: Absolutely. I mean, chair yoga is great for anybody who wants a gentle workout, but it's not easy, and there are many, many benefits. So, obviously, it has a lot to offer older people, particularly older women who are prone to osteoporosis, and it's a gentle and safe way to improve your flexibility, your strength and your balance. It helps minimize
the risk of falls and fractures
.
There's not a body part that it really doesn't help. It helps the spine, the hips, the legs, all engaged. It also helps your core, helps you strengthen your core and your back, and it can help manage stiffness and pain associated with a lot of conditions, including arthritis and osteoporosis. It's not difficult to adapt traditional yoga poses for a chair, which I found kind of surprising, because, you know, yoga looks so daunting sometimes, and there are so many — there's a spiritual aspect to yoga that a lot of people don't realize, you know, in the West. You know, in addition to all the physical benefits, you know, there are relaxation benefits there's, you know, stress management benefits, like from the breathing and the mindfulness aspect of yoga. So, all of that can be adapted to a chair as well.
PANJWANI: How is chair yoga linked to better well-being or fall prevention?
ITALIE: Yeah, I mean, while there's a lot of research on regular traditional yoga, there is some research that breaks out
chair yoga
in particular. One study from 2012 found that 15 minutes of chair yoga significantly improves physical and psychological markers for stress. And then another study in the April 2023 journal Healthcare indicates that chair yoga went a long way to counter knee osteoarthritis in women 65 and older. There are other benefits, too, like for instance, office workers who spend a lot of time hunched over screens can just do chair yoga right there in their chair at their desks, and that can really improve posture.
PANJWANI: Your story talks about the divide between men and women who do yoga. Why is that?
ITALIE: I find this really, really interesting, and in the story that we did on
chair yoga
, we asked some longtime yoga participants, practitioners, what they thought — some women in their 70s and their 80s who've been doing yoga for 40, 50 years, why are there not more men in your classes? And they said, well, there's no one definitive answer here, and there's no way to avoid a massive generalization on who men are as a group. But, you know, so you do get different answers depending on who you ask. But, data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention do show that women are more than twice as likely as men to practice yoga.
You know, ancient yoga over the many thousands of years was exclusively reserved for men. And then it became popular in Western culture in the 1960s and '70s as part of sort of the hippie counterculture movement and the New Age movement. And marketing started to skew to women in the '80s and '90s. And that sort of was an outgrowth of the growing fitness industry in the West and the rise of workouts like on VHS tapes and DVDs that people could do at home.
PANJWANI: Thank you for listening to 'The Story Behind the AP Story.' To listen to previous episodes, visit
apnews.com
.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hamilton Spectator
3 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
As the ADA turns 35, groups fighting for disability rights could see their federal dollars slashed
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Nancy Jensen believes she'd still be living in an abusive group home if it wasn't shut down in 2004 with the help of the Disability Rights Center of Kansas, which for decades has received federal money to look out for Americans with disabilities. But the flow of funding under the Trump administration is now in question, disability rights groups nationwide say, dampening their mood as Saturday marks the 35th anniversary of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act. Federal dollars pay for much of their work, including helping people who seek government-funded services and lawsuits now pushing Iowa and Texas toward better community services. Documents outlining President Donald Trump's budget proposals show they would zero out funds earmarked for three grants to disability rights centers and slash funding for a fourth. Congress' first discussion of them, by the Senate Appropriations Committee, is set for Thursday, but the centers fear losing more than 60% of their federal dollars. The threat of cuts comes as the groups expect more demand for help after Republicans' tax and budget law complicated Medicaid health coverage with a new work-reporting requirement. There's also the sting of the timing: this year is the 50th anniversary of another federal law that created the network of state groups to protect people with disabilities, and Trump's proposals represent the largest potential cuts in that half-century, advocates said. The groups are authorized to make unannounced visits to group homes and interview residents alone. 'You're going to have lots of people with disabilities lost,' said Jensen, now president of Colorado's advisory council for federal funding of efforts to protect people with mental illnesses. She worries people with disabilities will have 'no backstop' for fighting housing discrimination or seeking services at school or accommodations at work. The potential budget savings are a shaving of copper from each federal tax penny. The groups receive not quite $180 million a year — versus $1.8 trillion in discretionary spending. Trump's administration touts flexibility for sta tes The president's Office of Management and Budget didn't respond to an email seeking a response to the disability rights groups' criticism. But in budget documents, the administration argued its proposals would give states needed flexibility. The U.S. Department of Education said earmarking funds for disability rights centers created an unnecessary administrative burden for states. Trump's top budget adviser, Russell Vought, told senators in a letter that a review of 2025 spending showed too much went to 'niche' groups outside government. 'We also considered, for each program, whether the governmental service provided could be provided better by State or local governments (if provided at all),' Vought wrote. Disability rights advocates doubt that state protection and advocacy groups — known as P&As — would see any dollar not specifically earmarked for them. They sue states, so the advocates don't want states deciding whether their work gets funded. The 1975 federal law setting up P&As declared them independent of the states, and newer laws reinforced that. 'We do need an independent system that can hold them and other wrongdoers accountable,' said Rocky Nichols, the Kansas center's executive director. Helping people with disabilities navigate Medicaid Nichols' center has helped Matthew Hull for years with getting the state to cover services, and Hull hopes to find a job. He uses a wheelchair; a Medicaid-provided nurse helps him run errands. 'I need to be able to do that so I can keep my strength up,' he said, adding that activity preserves his health. Medicaid applicants often had a difficult time working through its rules even before the tax and budget law's recent changes, said Sean Jackson, Disability Rights Texas' executive director. With fewer dollars, he said, 'As cases are coming into us, we're going to have to take less cases.' The Texas group receives money from a legal aid foundation and other sources, but federal funds still are 68% of its dollars. The Kansas center and Disability Rights Iowa rely entirely on federal funds. 'For the majority it would probably be 85% or higher,' said Marlene Sallo, executive director of the National Disability Rights Network, which represents P&As. The Trump administration's proposals suggest it wants to shut down P&As, said Steven Schwartz, who founded the Center for Public Representation, a Massachusetts-based organization that works with them on lawsuits. Investigating allegations of abuse and pushing states Federal funding meant a call in 2009 to Disability Rights Iowa launched an immediate investigation of a program employing men with developmental disabilities in a turkey processing plant. Authorities said they lived in a dangerous, bug-infested bunkhouse and were financially exploited. Without the dollars, executive director Catherine Johnson said, 'That's maybe not something we could have done.' The Kansas center's private interview in 2004 with one of Jensen's fellow residents eventually led to long federal prison sentences for the couple operating the Kaufman House, a home for people with mental illnesses about 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of Wichita. And it wasn't until Disability Rights Iowa filed a federal lawsuit in 2023 that the state agreed to draft a plan to provide community services for children with severe mental and behavioral needs. For 15 years, Schwartz's group and Disability Rights Texas have pursued a federal lawsuit alleging Texas warehouses several thousand people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in nursing homes without adequate services. Texas put at least three men in homes after they'd worked in the Iowa turkey plant. Last month, a federal judge ordered work to start on a plan to end the 'severe and ongoing' problems. Schwartz said Disability Rights Texas did interviews and gathered documents crucial to the case. 'There are no better eyes or ears,' he said. ___ Hunter reported from Atlanta.
San Francisco Chronicle
12 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Jaguars DE Josh Hines-Allen says his 7-year-old son Wesley is recovering from leukemia
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Josh Hines-Allen announced Friday that his 7-year-old son, Wesley, is recovering from cancer. Hines-Allen and his wife, Kaitlyn, provided the news in a three-minute video released on social media. They said the diagnosis of acute promyelocytic leukemia came after Wesley spiked a fever and started bleeding from a tooth days before last year's season finale, which Hines-Allen missed for personal reasons. 'It just kind of like hit me, and then nothing else mattered after that,' Hines-Allen said in the video. Wesley underwent chemotherapy for six months. He has a few treatments remaining before he gets to ring the bell next month at Nemours Children's Health in Jacksonville. 'Wesley is doing great," Kaitlyn said in the video. "He's swimming every day. He's running around. He's playing sports.' Added Hines-Allen: 'He's got back to being the big brother that he is.' Hines-Allen and his wife also announced Friday that their nonprofit foundation, Four One For All, will launch a season-long campaign called "Four One For Hope" to give back to four cancer-focused non-profits each month of the NFL regular season. Money raised will go to Nemours Children's Hospital in September, the American Cancer Society in October, the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Jacksonville in October and the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation in December. 'Our goal is to ensure that families going through something similar feel the same level of love and support as we did,' Hines-Allen said in a statement. Hines-Allen is a two-time Pro Bowl pass rusher who has 53 career sacks in six seasons in Jacksonville, two shy of the franchise record held by Tony Brackens. He signed a five-year, $141.25 million contract that included $76.5 million fully guaranteed before the 2024 season. ___
Hamilton Spectator
12 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Jaguars DE Josh Hines-Allen says his 7-year-old son Wesley is recovering from leukemia
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Josh Hines-Allen announced Friday that his 7-year-old son, Wesley, is recovering from cancer. Hines-Allen and his wife, Kaitlyn, provided the news in a three-minute video released on social media. They said the diagnosis of acute promyelocytic leukemia came after Wesley spiked a fever and started bleeding from a tooth days before last year's season finale, which Hines-Allen missed for personal reasons. 'It just kind of like hit me, and then nothing else mattered after that,' Hines-Allen said in the video. Wesley underwent chemotherapy for six months. He has a few treatments remaining before he gets to ring the bell next month at Nemours Children's Health in Jacksonville. 'Wesley is doing great,' Kaitlyn said in the video. 'He's swimming every day. He's running around. He's playing sports.' Added Hines-Allen: 'He's got back to being the big brother that he is.' Hines-Allen and his wife also announced Friday that their nonprofit foundation, Four One For All, will launch a season-long campaign called 'Four One For Hope' to give back to four cancer-focused non-profits each month of the NFL regular season. Money raised will go to Nemours Children's Hospital in September, the American Cancer Society in October, the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Jacksonville in October and the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation in December. 'Our goal is to ensure that families going through something similar feel the same level of love and support as we did,' Hines-Allen said in a statement. Hines-Allen is a two-time Pro Bowl pass rusher who has 53 career sacks in six seasons in Jacksonville, two shy of the franchise record held by Tony Brackens. He signed a five-year, $141.25 million contract that included $76.5 million fully guaranteed before the 2024 season. ___ AP NFL:
