A couple of years ago, my wife Lynn and I joined a class called “chair yoga”. In part, this was one way to get some exercise, build strength or regain it, meet new people, and keep ourselves alert and engaged – well known defenses against the dark side of getting older.

Before the pandemic, we had lived for nearly 28 years in Idaho. There we had built a routine involving pool exercise at the local YMCA, pedaling a stationary bike, or riding a three-wheeler in a local park or cemetery. But during the pandemic many of those options simply evaporated.

In 2021 we decided we had better leave Idaho and move closer to family in New England. The three-wheeler came along with us, but we soon found that basically we were starting over with building a personal exercise program. Chair yoga soon proved to be one easily accessible option for staying active in our new surroundings, a 55+ community in western Massachusetts.

At first, the chair yoga classes were small, six or eight people, and I was the only man in attendance. I admit being skeptical, thinking, “How can you get any exercise sitting in a chair?”

But Lynn is a stroke survivor, and fiercely determined at that. Staying active is especially important to retain her strength and flexibility, and to preserve the substantial improvements she has made since her stroke in 2005. That meant that chair yoga would become a cornerstone of our new exercise program.

What is yoga? With only a bit over two years of yoga under my belt, I’m certainly not qualified to speak with authority, but I can relate my experience and observations. And there are many yoga flavors and sizes out there, so your experience will depend on the approach that your yoga teacher takes.

Important elements of yoga include breathing, body movements, energy, self-assessment, letting go of stress or tension, and of course, holding particular poses and postures. Our teacher Heidi likes to organize each yoga session into “chapters” – breathing, linking breath and movement, reflective shutting down of senses, and finally taking stock of oneself, followed by detachment. Of course, many of the classic postures associated with floor yoga must be modified for people sitting in chairs. But those modifications don’t preclude enormous benefits that come from proper breathing linked to movement.

So where does gratefulness come into the mix? Actually, in several ways:

Ahimsa, or “do no harm”. If it hurts, back off, modify to suit yourself on that particular day. On each day one must start from where you are on that day, and act accordingly. Another way to view ahimsa is an approach building harmony.

Santosha (Yoga Sutra II.42), or “managing unmet needs and desires”. A rough translation of Yoga Sutra II.42 is, “from contentment supreme joy is attained.”

To my way of thinking, santosha is the heart of gratefulness in yoga. Practicing contentment involves three phases – awareness, attention, and taking joy in what we have. Building on this, santosha becomes a form of mindfulness linked to valuing what we have, listening to our basic needs, and taking steps to satisfy them.

In question form: what do I already have? what do I need? and once those needs are met, can I appreciate the new feelings of satisfaction?

The key to contentment, then, is to cultivate habits of mindfulness. Listen to our bodies; appreciate and enjoy what we already have; treat unmet desires with respect and compassion; and feel gratitude for the resulting peacefulness, freedom and wholeness.

Stay tuned for more about mindfulness, yoga and related topics in future posts!