Namaste, and welcome to the first day of our 10-day Chair Yoga flow for flexibility and strength. Today, we embark on a journey of integrating breath work with physical movement for a holistic experience. Breathing is our body's beautiful tool to enhance both flexibility and strength, even when movement feels challenging.

Our session starts with a three-part breathing exercise. It's essential to remember that without proper oxygenation, achieving flexibility and strength through movement alone can be difficult. So, let's begin by adjusting our seating posture slightly forward, ensuring the spine is tall, and the feet are grounded.

Embrace deep inhalations through your nose, expanding first the belly, ribs, and finally the chest like a balloon. With a slow exhalation, feel your muscles sink as your lungs deflate, nurturing a deeper relaxation by the end of each breath cycle.

With our breath settled, we transition into gentle arm circles to awaken the upper body. Stretch upward towards the sky and lower slowly, teaching our bodies to move gracefully in rhythm with our breath.

The session advances into seated variations of traditional yoga poses, incorporating stretches like the seated Cows and more T-poses stretches with a soft focus on the core engagement, aimed to bolster spinal integrity and alleviate tension.

Encourage full body awareness by transitioning into stronger, more dynamic movements such as the Swans Dives that work extensively on the hamstrings. At every posture, keep urging your toenails to the floor, and ensure the key is the gradual engagement of muscles, not forcing flexibility.

Further, engage your legs by alternating between lifting one leg up at a time, gradually introducing endurance and balance corrections. This enhances the front core muscles without excessive risk to the lower back.

Remember, "Balance is maintained not by force but by continued harmonization of our mind and breath."

To bring light and positivity back into our already exercised muscles and relaxed breath gaze, take a final neck roll stretch, again reminding your core to remain firm yet compliant.

Each chair yoga session gently compounds these fundamentals, offering a participant the joy of increased flexibility and nimble strength. Thank you for joining day one towards better flexibility and strength. See you in the next session when we expand further this practice.