Lakshmi Voelker-Binder has dedicated her life to creating accessible paths to wellness. By creating chair yoga, she was able bring adaptive fitness and exercise programs to those who could not benefit from traditional methods of physical activity due to age or limiting physical condition.

She created Lakshmi Voelker Chair Yoga™ in 1982 when one of her thirty-something students was stricken with arthritis and could no longer get down on the floor to practice Yoga. In 1999, she authored and produced her widely acclaimed "Lakshmi Voelker Chair Yoga: The Sitting Mountain Series" CD/cassette.

She has studied, practiced, and taught Yoga and other Eastern disciplines since 1969. From her early years, she integrated these disciplines with Western health concepts. Her focus has always been to improve her students' health and wellness by making the integration of these disciplines accessible to the broadest audience possible.

Lakshmi Voelker-Binder, YT, E-RYT 500, KYTA, YA, IAYT is a certified Kripalu Yoga instructor, a member of the Yoga Alliance and International Association of Yoga Therapists, and holder of other certifications.



Following the success of her CD, she then created the first Get Fit Where You Sit!® DVD Video, a series of innovative Chair Yoga Fitness and Exercise DVDs in 2007. She made breakthroughs in two areas: extensive step-by-step instruction of each class and providing multiple levels of flexibility so all poses are accessible.

Lakshmi certifies Lakshmi Voelker Chair Yoga™ teachers (LVCYTs). In just the first three years of this program, she has certified over 400 people in the United States, Canada, and Japan.

Lakshmi also works extensively as a private Yoga therapist who has taught and developed various Yoga classes and teacher training programs. She has led Yoga and Zen meditation as well as dolphin swim and whale research retreats in the U.S. and Mexico.