Lower back, hips, knees and ankles

Chair Pose: Shallow

A shallower version that reduces demand on your knees and back while still building functional leg strength: accessible for bodies still building capacity.

How to do it

1. 1

   Stand with your feet hip width, arms comfortable

   If steadiness is a factor, set up near a wall or something solid you can touch.

2. 2

   Bend your knees only a small amount

   A shallow dip, a fraction of the way towards sitting. That small range is the entire exercise, and it is what keeps the demand on your back low.

3. 3

   Send your hips back a little as you bend

   Hips travelling backwards keeps your knees behind your toes and puts the work into your thighs.

4. 4

   Use whichever prop makes it kinder to stay

   Heels raised on a folded mat, a block held between the thighs, or a hand on a wall for steadiness.

5. 5

   Hold 30 to 60 seconds, then stand tall

   Stand up fully and shake the legs out before repeating.

What to watch for

Depth is not the goal in this version, and going lower to make it feel like something undoes the reason it exists. If you cannot hold the shallow bend for the time, stand up out of a chair repeatedly instead.

Ways to adjust it

• Sit-to-Stand
• Arms down
• Block between thighs
• Wall support
• Heel elevation

If this one is too much today

Try the gentler version instead. It asks less of you and does much the same work.

• Chair Pose: Dynamic Sit-to-Stand

Other ways to do this movement

Every version below is the same movement set up differently, so one of them usually suits.

• Chair Pose: Block Between Thighs
• Chair Pose: Classic
• Chair Pose: Dynamic Sit-to-Stand
• Chair Pose: Hands Pressing Raised Block

Before you try it

Move within a range that stays comfortable. Stop if this brings on sharp pain, dizziness, or symptoms that travel down an arm or a leg, and speak to a clinician before repeating it.

From the clinically authored Vinys movement library.