Blindfolded Chair Pose Trust Hold
Quick Intro
Blindfolded Chair Pose Trust Hold takes chair pose, a standing hold with the knees bent and arms raised overhead as if sitting into an invisible chair, and removes sight from one partner entirely. The sighted partner stands close in front, hands ready at the hips, using touch and verbal cues to guide the bend into position and staying close enough to steady any loss of balance at once.
The pose’s own full technique is covered at Utkatasana.
What You’ll Need
No equipment, just a cleared space free of trip hazards.
How to Do It Together
- Get into position. Guided partner stands with eyes closed or blindfolded, sighted partner standing close in front, hands ready at the hips.
- Guide the bend. Sighted partner uses hand contact and verbal cues to guide the bend into chair pose.
- Hold together. Hold for the target duration, sighted partner adjusting contact only as needed.
- Guide the rise. Guide the rise back to standing the same way.
Steady breathing through the hold, guided by verbal cues from the sighted partner if needed.
Why This Works as a Middle Step Before a Single-Leg Hold
Blindfolded Tree Pose Trust Hold removes sight from a single-leg balance pose, where losing the ability to see adds real difficulty on top of an already demanding balance task. Chair pose keeps both feet on the ground throughout, which removes that compounding balance demand while still asking the guided partner to trust someone else’s hands and voice to find and hold a bent-knee position correctly without any sight to confirm it.
That makes this a reasonable place to land between the calmer blindfolded holds, the ones done lying down or seated against a wall, and the more demanding single-leg versions. Both feet staying planted means there’s considerably less to actually lose balance over, but the bend itself still has to be found and held through touch and voice alone, which keeps a real, meaningful trust demand in place even without the single-leg risk layered on top.
The sighted partner’s hands at the hips do more work here than they might in a lighter guided exercise, since chair pose asks the guided partner’s weight to shift backward into the heels in a way that’s easy to misjudge without sight. Staying close enough to steady any wobble early, rather than standing back and only intervening if something clearly goes wrong, is what keeps this hold secure throughout.
A guide standing close and calling out small corrections is the kind of mid-effort communication that Working Out Together describes.
If You’re at Different Fitness Levels
A shallower chair pose angle works fine, with the guide structure staying exactly the same regardless of depth. Because one partner guides while the other holds, and you can swap for a second turn, any fitness gap between you is already built into how this exercise works.
Safety and Consent
Clear the space of trip hazards beforehand. Remove the blindfold at once if uncomfortable. The guide stands with a wide, steady base, the pair ease out of the pose at once if a knee complains and you agree beforehand that hands at the hips are welcome.
Every connection moment in these exercises is something either partner can skip or scale back at any point, including this one, no explanation needed. Whenever losing sight is more than you want, holding chair pose with eyes open is the same hold.
FAQ
How does this compare with the single-leg blindfolded balance hold? Blindfolded Tree Pose Trust Hold removes sight from a single-leg pose, adding real balance risk on top of the loss of sight. This exercise keeps both feet planted, so balance risk stays considerably lower.
Is this a good exercise to try before a single-leg blindfolded hold? Yes, it works well as a middle step, since it keeps a genuine trust demand in place while removing the single-leg balance risk that comes with a harder version.
Why do the sighted partner’s hands matter so much here specifically? Chair pose asks weight to shift backward into the heels in a way that’s easy to misjudge without sight, so staying close enough to steady any wobble early keeps the hold secure.
What if the blindfold needs to come off partway through? That’s completely fine and doesn’t require any explanation. Continuing the rest of the hold with eyes open works just as well as finishing it blindfolded.
Does each partner get a turn being guided? Yes, within the same session if you’d like, so both of you experience what it feels like to lose sight and be guided.
What should the sighted partner actually say during the hold? Simple, steady cues work well, confirming the knee angle or letting the guided partner know roughly how much time is left, rather than a detailed play-by-play of every small adjustment.
Can we do chair pose with eyes open instead? Yes. Utkatasana on its own works fine with no blindfold attached.
Built on Utkatasana. Blindfolded Tree Pose Trust Hold removes sight from a single-leg balance pose in place of a both-feet-planted hold.