Special Poses for Seniors
Grab a seat and get ready for yoga! That was the message to 370 people at Singapore’s “Largest Mass Chair Yoga” session at Toa Payoh on June 22.
The session was conducted by volunteer trainers from Nikam Guruji Yoga Kutir, a yoga centre, and recognised by the Singapore Book of Records, surpassing the previous record of 215 participants set by the staff of PCF Sparkletots Preschool in December 2023.
Chair yoga started in 1982 when a yoga instructor in the United States noticed that one of her students, a woman in her 30s with arthritis, had difficulty getting down onto the floor. She adapted some poses for use while seated on a chair and since then, chair yoga has been widely practiced around the world.
Rama Prasad, the current chairman of Nikam Guruji, said he and his team developed the line-up of chair yoga postures specifically for the event organised in conjunction with SG60 and International Day of Yoga.
“We stipulated what are the postures that we needed to do and took a lot of care to check for stability so that people don’t fall off the chair. We made sure the postures are very easy and even wrote down the script so that we were very clear in our instructions,” he explained.
The event was held at a sheltered basketball court next to the Bishan-Toa Payoh Town Council.
“There was a lot of enthusiasm and interest in yoga from the residents. We decided on mass chair yoga so that even the senior citizens could come and participate,” said Toa Payoh West Indian Activity Executive Committee chairman Vangoor Govindarajan Balachander.
The session lasted just over an hour and included 10 chair postures, three breathing exercises, three standing postures and concluded with four rounds of the 12-step sun salute.
Most of the older participants performed the yoga poses effortlessly, though one or two would amusingly raise their left hand when it was supposed to be the right. To watch all 370 heads turn in unison during the spinal twist pose was a remarkable sight to behold.
Among the participants was a wheelchair-bound senior. Another senior, fresh from a grocery run at the nearby wet market joined the session with her shopping trolley in tow.
Minister for National Development and Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC MP Chee Hong Tat arrived in time to perform the sun salute along with the residents.
“Yoga can be done on a chair, it can also be done on a mat. It is a very good form of exercise, you can do it in different settings. Maybe next time when Parliament starts, I can do it in Parliament also,” Mr Chee quipped.
“I encourage all residents, especially our seniors, to make good use of the sports and exercise facilities, because this is part of active ageing, and this is what we hope to do to make our community a vibrant, active one for all our residents,” he added.
Ms Manju Subashini, 35, a project manager at a bank and Vinodh Kumar, 36, an IT systems administrator, attended the event with their 11-year-old daughter, Shashini.
“The session helped us to bond and grow closer as a family. We teased each other as we did the poses and had a lot of fun,” Ms Manju said in Tamil.
The family of three signed up after hearing about the event from their friends in the neighbourhood. “Most of the residents are from the Toa Payoh area so it was great to do yoga with people we know,” she added.
All registered participants received a certificate from the Singapore Book of Records, a vegetarian bento box and an Oatside packet drink.
Madam Debbie Oh travelled from the north to attend the event and catch up with her two long-time friends whom she had not seen in a while. The trio whose ages range from 61 to 70 years old became friends while exercising together at the Singapore Sports Hub, where Miss Oh had first tried chair yoga.
“I saw the post for the event on Facebook and shared it with my friends to join me if they were free. This is my second time doing chair yoga and I really enjoyed it,” she said.
