Part 1: Upper body chair stretches that are low impact and work on breathing and gentle movements.

Required Supplies

• Chairs for instructor and participants who do not require wheelchairs

Group Size

Min: 1
Max: 8

Hazards

Please be mindful of each participant’s physical precautions.

Activity Instructions

1. To begin, ask participants to sit tall in their chairs with the feet flat on the footrests or on the ground (Seated position).

Breathing:

Ask participants to breathe in through their nose and out through their mouth. Add your arms by bringing them above the head when breathing in and down when breathing out.

 

Head and neck:

Bring your left ear to your shoulder and hold. Come back to seated position. Repeat on right side.

Turn your left chin to your left shoulder and gently roll your chin across your chest to the right side. Repeat from right shoulder to left shoulder. 

 

Shoulders:

Inhale and raise your shoulders up to your ears, exhale and drop your shoulders.

 

Roll shoulders backward and then forward. 

 

Back:

In seated position, place your left hand on your left armrest and right  hand on your left knee. Turn your head gently over your left shoulder. Repeat on the right side.

 

Arms:

Raise arms in front of you (at chest height). Bring your palms upwards facing and then downwards facing. 

 

Wrists:

Rotate wrists in clockwise direction and then in counter clockwise direction.

 

Fingers:

Close your hands in a tight fist and open stretching out your fingers. Repeat slowly and then quickly.

 

Complete Gentle Stretch Exercises with breathing deeply. 

Activity Instruction Adaptations

• Repeat exercises as many times as tolerated. 

• A little movement is still movement! Exercises do not have to be done exactly how they are instructed, we are happy to have participants try their best to follow along.