Lower back, hips, knees and ankles

Tree Pose: Holding Chair

The chair provides reliable support while you develop your balance, letting you focus on building single-leg stability at your own pace.

How to do it

1. 1

   Stand beside a chair and rest one hand on its back

   The chair is doing the balancing so your standing leg can do the work. Hold it as firmly as you need to.

2. 2

   Take your weight into one foot

   Let that foot spread and grip the floor a little. Keep a soft bend in the knee rather than locking it straight.

3. 3

   Turn the other knee out to the side and lift the foot

   Rest the foot against your ankle, your calf, or above the knee. Never rest it against the side of the knee itself.

4. 4

   Find something still to look at

   Balance is much easier with a fixed point ahead of you at eye height.

5. 5

   Hold for 30 to 60 seconds, then swap sides

   Keeping the lifted toes touching the floor is a good version on a wobbly day.

What to watch for

The foot resting against the side of the knee. It puts sideways pressure through a joint that does not take it well. Above or below the knee, never on it.

Ways to adjust it

• Toes floor

If this one is too much today

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

• Tree Pose: Seated

Other ways to do this movement

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

• Tree Pose: At Wall
• Tree Pose: Classic
• Tree Pose: Foot on Calf
• Tree Pose: Foot on Chair
• Tree Pose: Lift & Lower
• Tree Pose: Seated
• Tree Pose: Side-Lying
• Tree Pose: Toes on Floor

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.