The Best Yoga Chairs, What Are They and How to Use Them Properly

As we all know, yoga is a discipline that’s suitable to everyone, regardless of body type, age, or sex. Nevertheless, some poses might be quite inaccessible for some of us, and perhaps at times, we feel frustrated or stuck…Does it resonate with you? Well, no sweat, we’ve got you covered, because there’s a simple yet crucial prop you could use for your practice: a chair!

Yes, because yoga chairs are amazing props that are purposely made to help you access poses and allow you to make the most out of your practice! Eager to know more about the top yoga chairs available on the market? Then follow our review and choose the best for your practice!

The Top Yoga Chairs Reviewed

Find the right Yoga Chair for you

Those who practice Iyengar Yoga have surely used this chair at least once. For those of you who are new to this practice, we’re talking about a particular style of yoga that requires a specific kind of chair and this one by Samadhaan is really ideal for this practice. But it can also be used for many other yoga styles and purposes! 

This brand has created a backless yoga chair that allows you to rest while practicing and exploring many different shapes. As a downside though, its seat is flat, with no cushion, so it’s not super comfortable.

On the other hand, this chair is widely known and beloved because it helps you find the right alignment and that explains why it’s so used in Iyengar Yoga, a practice that’s mainly based on alignment and symmetry. 

Also, I personally liked the fact that this chair is made with heavily resistant materials and it comes with two connecting bars, which make it sturdy and durable, and for this reason, it’s really suitable both for beginners and more advanced yogis. 

Furthermore, what I found really cool about this chair is that comes with a free yoga poster that illustrates how to perform several standing and sitting asanas, as well as backbends and forward folds. 

As if it wasn’t enough, this chair is also easy to fold, store, and even clean, because its surface is naturally stain-proof!

So let’s recap their overall pros and cons…

If you’re looking for a comfy chair that can support you during your practice, then look no further because this product is really great! This Auxiliary yoga chair is made to relieve back pain, correct posture, and help you stretch and relax the muscles. And It has even an extra-long seat that ensures great waist support.

Another perk of this chair is that, since it’s made with high-quality, non-toxic, and skin-friendly materials it’s 100% breathable and dirt-resistant. At the same time though, this chair is also made from corrosion-free material and has fantastic attractive powder-coating that makes it durable and sturdy.

Nevertheless, this item has one small flaw: it may produce a strong smell when damp, so if you sweat it can get really smelly… For this reason, I believe this chair is actually suitable for gentler, calmer yoga poses where not much strength or effort is required.

It has also non-slip hoof chair feet, so you can perform any pose in complete safety. But perhaps one of the things I totally liked about this chair is that it has a cushion filled with a double-layer of sponge so it’s super comfy but also easy to clean; just need to wipe down the surface with a damp cloth and the stain will immediately fade away!

Have you always dreamt of doing those “instagrammable” headstands but never felt enough confident to try them? Then it’s time to try Restrial Life, a yoga chair that is purposely created to allow you to experience the benefits of the headstand in complete safety. It can truly help you gain the strength and body awareness you need to perform headstands.

It has also non-slippery pads glued to the feet of the chair, so you won’t run the risk of falling out of the pose and flipping the chair upside down. But also, this chair, or bench rather, has a wooden, rectangular shape that can hold up to 330 lbs, so it’s super stable and sturdy. And it’s even pretty comfortable, thanks to its thick, soft, and washable cushion that relieves pressure on both neck and shoulders!

The only potential downside is that some users complained that, although it comes with a manual, it was kind of hard to assemble, so my tip is to try and watch a video tutorial so that you won’t need to stress out too much about the put-together process.

Ultimately, it comes in a great variety of colors to meet your different aesthetic preferences.

In my opinion, this yoga and meditation chair by far the best yoga chair for meditation or sitting asanas that the market is currently offering. I personally found it incredibly comfortable and, thanks to its backrest, you can rest easy while keeping a perfect alignment even during long meditation sessions.

So no more shoulder or back pain while meditating because this chair does offer fantastic support and comfort for the entire spine! But actually, I have to say that this chair is great not only for meditation but also to practice gentle yoga poses, especially for those that have back problems or are not super flexible. 

Another thing I found pretty useful is that this chair is portable and easy to store: simply fold it up and carry it using its handle. And lastly, I particularly liked the fact that its materials are non-toxic and its design is elegant, compact, and versatile, which makes it ideal for any sitting needs.

There’s just one little thing I’d like to point out, because some users complained that, despite offering great support for the back, this chair is not super resistant and you can’t get to decide many angles, so if you just want to lay back, then you might want to look for a different product…

This type of chair has become incredibly popular in offices and houses because they can truly offer great support while sitting behind a desk. But what I love about balance ball chairs is that they’re fun and they can also help you work on your core stability while improving your posture. 

For this reason, I believe this chair shouldn’t be an option for those who have limited mobility or for elderly people… But if you’re instead looking for a chair that’s comfy and fun and that could potentially allow you to try out new, seated poses then this chair is really the best.

Moreover, its materials are great, and given its firm, solid base I also found this chair quite durable, so it’s a total thumbs up for me. Yet there’s a small heads-up you might need to consider before using this chair: remember to lock the wheels or make sure that you place it on a carpet, otherwise it might be really risky!

Yoga Chair Buying Guide

So, have already made up your mind on which is the best chair for you? If not, you might like to consider a few things that can help you find the one that’s perfect for your purpose:

When looking for yoga chairs, there are a few guidelines you can follow such as durability, sturdiness, quality, type of chair and purpose.

Let’s break down these guidelines step by step:

Durability

This might sound obvious, but since you’d be probably using the yoga chair quite frequently, I believe it’d be best to go for something that’s made with high-quality materials and that’s also pretty durable. The best ones are those that have a layer of powder-coated finish, connecting bars, and a firm seat. 

Sturdiness and grip

When it comes to choosing a yoga chair, sturdiness and safety are incredibly crucial. And sturdiness is itself also interconnected with the previous point, durability because generally, the chairs that are quite sturdy are most of the time also very durable. So choose something that has a light but firm base and if you opt for the backless chair, it’d be great to find something with connecting bars, so to ensure greater support and steadiness during your poses. Another unmissable feature of a good yoga chair is the grip: so try to choose something that has non-slippery pads glued to its feet or if it has wheels, ensure you lock them before your practice!

Purpose

I know, buying a yoga chair is an investment, most of them are quite pricey and if you get the wrong one it might be a bit of a bummer obviously. And of course, given the huge variety of different yoga chairs currently available, it can be really tricky to find exactly what you need. So instead of walking into the unknown and then getting the wrong prop, try to understand why you buying it and how are you intending to use it… 

Do you intend to practice gentle yoga asanas? Then try to go for Auxiliary Chairs that have a comfy seat. Or maybe you’re looking for something that can be comfy but at the same time help you explore new poses while seated, then in this case try to go for a backless chair with a cushion… So remember to always keep in mind that the purpose is the key when purchasing a chair for your practice. Let’s shortly revise some of the main types of chairs:

Backless Yoga Chair

Backless yoga chairs are by far one of the most beloved types of yoga chairs. They allow you to explore a wide range of motions while offering a firm support and they’re usually quite cheap, so they’re great both for beginners and more advanced users. However, since it offers no support for the back, this type of chair is not really suitable for older practitioners or for those with limited mobility.

Generally, this type of yoga chair is made from metal and they’re easy to fold and store. Some of them may also come with a cushioned seat, so you’ll get to perform any pose with the perfect alignment and a comfortable seat!

Yoga Ball Chair

As we’ve seen, Yoga ball chairs are a lot of fun. But also, they will help you get effortlessly into a huge variety of shapes, even the most challenging ones while enhancing your core stability. These chairs might seem wobbly at first, but when you find a good quality one you’ll be amazed by its stability! I love them because they’re fun, versatile and they also gift you with toner muscles!

However, this type of chair is ideal for practitioners who have already some yoga experience and as aforementioned, they’re not really fit for senior students.

Inversion yoga bench

Inversion yoga benches are definitely the new trend in the yoga community. They kind of look like standard chairs but with a hole in the middle where you can place the head. Usually, they also have a cushioned surface that can allow you to decompress the bodyweight when doing headstands. 

They’re really great, but ensure that you get something that’s really firm, sturdy, and incredibly grippy, otherwise, if you fear headstands and fall out of the poses due to a bad yoga bench not only you can run the risk of getting injured, but you’ll never break the wall of fear that stops you from doing advanced inversions!

Auxiliary Yoga chairs

As the name itself suggests, this type of chair offers great support for the back and they usually come with a cushioned surface. For this reason, they’re perfect for gentle or restorative yoga poses and they’re a great option for senior practitioners, but as a downside, they don’t really allow you to experiment with many different poses or angles.

Meditation chairs

Usually, meditation chairs don’t come with legs but they’re close to the ground and they allow you to sit in meditation even for several hours. But as we’ve said, these chairs are also great for doing seated yoga positions but since they have a back, you won’t get to practice many different shapes.

Final Thoughts

So we’ve finally come to an end of this review. In this article, we’ve rounded up the best yoga chairs that are currently available on the market and we genuinely hope this will help you find the one that most suits your needs!  

Whether you’re a beginner who simply wants to try and give a shot to chair yoga or a more advanced practitioner, any yoga chair on the above-mentioned list is, in my opinion, the best of its kind.

Let us know your thoughts and feedback on yoga chairs, we’d love to hear from you! 

Namaste!