Practice: Sensing Your Movement

Jenna Zaffino:

Hi, everyone. I'm Jenna. Welcome to your interoception practice. Now that is just a very big word, fancy phrase for a practice that involves sensing what's happening inside of your body while we're moving externally. Interoception really refers to a constant state of awareness of what's happening in your body. Sometimes that can be your heart beating or your lungs breathing or maybe even your blood pumping through your extremities. But for our purposes today, we're just going to try to hone in the skill of noticing and sensing and shifting our awareness and our focus to become more informed about the movement we're doing. So I'll invite you to find your comfort. 

Jenna Zaffino:

We'll be seated for the first part of this session and then we'll stand up for the and part. Let's go ahead and separate our feet hip width distance apart. If possible, bring yourself to the front of your chair so you can support your posture in an upright position and feel your core musculature really working for you. We'll just begin with our hands on our knees. Let's take a couple shoulder rolls just to prepare our body and arrive in the seated position. The great thing about this session is you really can't do anything wrong. It's all open to your own interpretation. They ask us that you remain open minded and curious about the way that your body is sensing movement. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Let's do 4 in the reverse direction. So we'll repeat each movement 2 times, and each time we do the movement, you'll have a different question to ask and answer for yourself. One more here. You don't need to write any of these down. It's just about sensing. Alright. Feel yourself evenly weighted on the bottoms of your feet, on the bottoms of your seat, and let's get ready to begin. Our first exercise is going to involve taking both hands over to our right leg or the right side of your chair and just taking a gentle twist. 

Jenna Zaffino:

You're going to twist around as far as it feels easy to do so and we're going to hold this for 30 seconds. So let's stay right here. I've got our timer on. All you need to do in this position is breathe and notice. There is no need to force or to be in any discomfort or pain. So if that happens, simply ease your way out into a position that's more comfortable. Almost there. Good. 

Jenna Zaffino:

And then let's recover back to center. Alright. Your first question is where did you experience the twist in your body? Where did you feel the sensation? Another way of thinking about it is where's the spot light for you? Take a moment to think about that and then we're gonna do it once again. Alright. We're gonna do and more twist and this time I'd like you to think of starting the twist from your back muscles, whatever that means for you. So as you take your twist around, think about how your back is part of this movement, how it drives the movement, how it supports the movement, and then just stay there for a moment. And then let's come all the way back. Now the question is did that experience change for you when you thought of your back muscles? And if so, what did it feel like? What was the new experience? Maybe you thought of your back muscles the first time. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Let's try over to the other side just to get a little bit of balance. So we'll start with our hands to the left. We'll take a gentle twist. Again, it's however far you like it to be and the first one is just twisting as you might do without giving much thought to it. We're here for just about 30 seconds breathing, Staying upright on your sits bones. And just sensing the twist. Good. And Caregiver. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Where did you sense the twist on that side? Maybe it was already informed by your other side? Maybe it was a new Patient? Alright. This time, let's twist again thinking about moving from your back muscles. Here we go. Whatever that means to you to move from your back muscles. Whether it's very active throughout or just the act of getting into the shape that comes from your back. Almost there. Good. And then come back to center. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Now the next question and, maybe in what other circumstances can you think about your back muscles moving in such a way? Are there any ideas or thoughts that come to mind? It's not super important that you have them just yet, but something to consider. Alright. Now, the next exercise we're gonna do is called perfect posture. So, if you've taken my postural video already in the energized life library, then please just pretend like you haven't. So from here, we're gonna think about being in school shoulders back chest out and just hold that that postural shape for a few moments. Squeezing them back, it's almost that like militant proud posture that we all know is what they tell us to do when they say good posture. Good. Just a few more seconds here. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Good. And relax. Alright. Where was the spotlight for you in that exercise? Maybe it was on your back or your shoulders or your hips. Now, we're going to go back into our perfect posture exercise but this time we're gonna initiate that same shape from our shoulder blades. So I want you to imagine that you had maybe like a tiny little egg and you're gonna draw your shoulder blades back together just to squeeze into that egg and hold onto it. Keep your focus there. Staying there for a couple more seconds. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Noticing what the muscles are doing, maybe what your thoughts are doing. And release. Now, what was the difference between the first sensation you felt and the second sensation you felt? Which one did you like more? That's also a nice question to ask. Alright. 3rd exercise. We're gonna take our right hand to the side of the chair or to the leg of the chair, wherever you need the support. Side bend and reach up with your left hand and hold. So we're in a lateral bend. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Your spine is in an arc shape like a rainbow shape and our arm is just reaching overhead. Just for a few more moments. Good. And come all the way back up. Where was the spotlight on that stretch for you? Think about it. Don't question it. Trust yourself. And now we'll go into the side bend again reaching over This time focusing on your top shoulder. 

Jenna Zaffino:

If you're mirroring me that's your left shoulder. Maybe reaching a little bit more through the arm or managing the shoulder a little differently. Here for just a couple more seconds. And, recover all the way back up to the top. What was the difference between your first and your second experience? Did the focus change from the first time to the second time when we focused on the shoulder? Let's try the other side. Again, first one being as passive as you can knowing that you know what's coming next but we have 2 different sides with 2 different experiences and we wanna just be balanced in this practice. Good. Come on all the way up. 

Jenna Zaffino:

The and time through after we assess where we felt the first and. That's important. The second time through we'll focus on our shoulder. Our right one this time. Reaching up and over to see as you pay attention to your shoulder what happens to the stretch overall? Good. Come all the way back up. Excellent. What changed between the first go round and the second go round? So you're starting to get the gist of this and we're gonna move on to some other body parts. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Remember that this is not a traditional workout where we're burning calories or building strength. Instead, we're building mental strength here with the ability to focus in on different body parts. So the next one we're going to do is take our hands like in a chopping position, fingers as closed as possible. Take the outer edge of your hand and place them on your legs and simply press down with your hands against your legs. As much as you can again without going into pain or, too much discomfort. We don't want that. Just with a good amount of pressure and strength that feels defined for you. We'll be here for 4, 3, 2, and 1 and relax. 

Where did you sense that exercise? Where was the spotlight on your body? Good. Alright. For the and go round we're gonna do it a little differently. Widen your fingers apart, same knife edge of your hand against your legs. Keep your fingers wide and press down with a focus on your hands. Good. It looks like nothing but it feels like a lot. Good work. 

And release. Good. How did it feel to focus on the energy of your wide hands in that position? Now using the information that you just gained from your wide and, let's close the fingers again. Keep the focus on the hands and press down into your legs and see if that pattern, that experience changes at all. What is your experience? Good. Relax. And certainly, some of these are gonna be a better experience when you don't think about them and some of them are going to be better when you do. Now we're gonna take your arms out to a t. 

If you need to lower them down that's perfectly fine. We're gonna start to just draw some circles. Keep your torso stable. Everything is pretty still in the center and you're just circling around those arms. Maybe they get a little bigger. Let's be here for a few more moments and then let's go ahead and reverse the direction of your circles. Ready? Here we go. Good. 

Let's be here for 4, 3, 2 and 1 and lower the arms down. Alright. Where did you experience those arm circles? Shoulders, down the arm, your hands, your chest, your back? Think about it for a moment and now we're gonna do them again. This time focusing on our bicep or our upper arm bicep and triceps. So think about honing in the focus right around these upper arm muscles and bones. Take your arms to a t and let's circle. Good. Good. 

Let's get ready to reverse and go. Nice work everybody. Go 4, 3, 2, and 1. And release all the way down. Alright. How did that first and second experience differ from each other? Which one felt stronger? Which one felt less defined? Alright. We're gonna take our right ankle up across the left knee and we're going to do something called a knee pump. Now we're using the heel of your hand above your knee, not on your knee joint. 

Above your knee and you can use your other hand here just to stabilize your ankle. And simply push down, release. Push down and release. Nice and gentle. As far as you like, We're going to do about 10 of them. And even if your leg isn't moving very much at all, try not to worry or judge it. And if this position is far too much for you, you could always just do a little knee pump on the floor. Okay? Let's do a couple more. 

Good. Alright. Relax. Take your foot down for a Patient, and let's go ahead and go right away to the other side. Do this one a little differently. Little pumps. It's always surprising when you get to a tight leg. Uh-oh. 

Right. So just being gentle as much as I can be. Let's go. Couple more. Good. Last one and relax. Alright. Where was the experience for you on the first round? Think about it. 

File it away. Let's go back to the first side. This time as we do our knee pumps, we're going to think about the inner thigh And imagine that inner thigh lengthening as much as possible. So hand on your thigh and on your ankle, and just again, little pumps. Now if the focus on your inner thigh changes your cadence or your tempo of these pumps, so be it. You can't do it wrong. As long as the only misstep would be if you're putting yourself into a painful position. It's not necessary. 

Looking for that length and space. Good. Maybe one more. Alright. Let's go to the other side. Again, thinking about lengthening our inner thigh as much as possible with those gentle pumps. Just breathing. Take some concentration. 

Right? Good. Finish up your last one and release. Alright. Let's think about that first sensation that we felt and then the second go around. Around. I know for me the first one was all in the outer hips and the second one was very much in the inner thighs so that's an interesting point of reference that the same movement can be experienced 2 different ways. And now the choice is what do I want? What's gonna be most helpful for me? Yeah? Alright. Let's up the ante just a little bit. 

Jenna Zaffino:

I'm gonna move my chair back a tiny bit. We're gonna extend our legs out. And if you need to keep them slightly bent for balance, go for it. And then hands can either be at your chest or behind your head. We're gonna take a seated twist while bringing your knee in. If you need your legs to be a little wider for more support, please go there. From here, take the knee up. Hands are either at the shoulders or at the head, and you're gonna try to reach your elbow to your knee and hold it for 5, 4, 321, and reach it all the way down. 

If this isn't working for you, you can always march it from elbow to knee. Okay. Other side. Knee up. Hold it. 5432 one, and reach. Let's do it one more time each side. Getting into the position. 

5, four, three, 2, 1, and reach. Last and. 5, 4, 3, 2 1. And reach. Good. Release. Where did you experience that in your body? I felt some hips. Maybe you felt some shoulders. 

Alright. This time we're going to initiate from our midsection. Similar to the first twist we did, twisting from our back, from our core musculature and just trying to move ourselves into that twist in a way that feels like it's coming from the center. So hands behind your head, take a deep breath in. When you're ready, turn from your core, bring your leg up any way you like. Hold 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1, release. Other side, twist and hold. 54, 321, and release. 

Let's do one more each side. Twist and hold. 54321, and release. And last one. Turning from the center. 54, 321, and release. Good. What was the difference for you there? How did that feel? Turning from your core versus just turning. 

Maybe it was easier. Maybe it was a little more work. Taking note. It's very hard not to judge which is right and which is wrong. Unfortunately, that's not the point of this one. The point of this one is to gather information. And, the last one we're going to do seated is a wrist stretch. Let's take your hands together. 

Bring them close, as close as possible towards your chest and then we're going to think of the elbows lifting up as the base of your palm or the back of your wrist pushes downward. Hands are together, sitting up tall, elbows up, wrists come down, and just hold at the stretch that feels okay for you. Gonna be here for a few more moments. Breathing and focusing. Good. And release. All right. Where did you experience that first stretch? I know I definitely felt some down my forearm and into my elbow, which was unexpected. 

This time we're going to focus on the top of our wrist as we pull down. Maybe deepening the crease if possible. Maybe just noticing the crease at all. So hands together. As you pull your wrists down and lift your elbows up, put your focus right on the top of your wrists and stay. That's it. Almost there. And release. 

Alright. How did that change for you? For me, I felt like I could pull my hands down a little more and I felt a lot more stretch through my palms than through my forearms. So the great news is is that interoception gives us information and it also gives us choices as to where we can find the stretch we want, the movement we want, the focus we want, and even just the information surrounding the movement we're doing. Okay? So, one more to get up and then we'll do one last one in standing. We're gonna widen our feet a bit and we're gonna come into a chair squat. For some of you, that's simply going to be a hip hinge either with hands at your shoulders or behind your head. For others, if you can come up and hover above your chair, we're gonna hold just for 10 seconds. So get ready. 

Hands wherever you need them. Hinge forward from your hips. Either stay here or lift into your squat. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 321. If you're up, reach back, find your chair, come down. And there we are. Alright. Unfortunately, for me, I feel the squat in my knee. 

It's always on the knees initially. Now, this time, we're gonna put our focus on the hips. And you may have heard me use this cue in another class. The idea is that you have a yellow number 2 pencil. You're gonna put it right in the crease of your hips and hold on tight as you take your squat or as you take your forward hinge. Alright. Let's try it for our and go round. Ready, set, squeeze the pencil and hold. 

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. And come all the way back. Use your hands if you need to. Alright. So for me, that took it out of my knees and into my thighs. What about you? Hopefully, you had a shift. And, again, I really love asking myself and my clients, which version did you like better? Because often the version you liked better was the one that allowed your body to organize with more clarity. To line itself up, to find the strength, to find the support, and to go there. 

It's a means of really trusting yourself. But also knowing that we can switch our focus to find more support or more action or more work if we want to. Alright. Let's come to standing. If you're not standing, you can stay seated and just tap your leg out to the side. So, the last one we're going to do is a standing side leg raise. From here, stand on your right foot. Use your chair for some balance, and we're going to reach our left leg out to the side and hold. 

Just stay there. Feel it. Notice it. I'm gonna be here a little longer. 32 and 1. Come back down. Good. Okay. 

Now the and time, we're going to internally rotate your legs. So your toes are slightly in and your heel is leading outward. And as we kick the heel out, we're gonna think of pushing the heel against a target like a bull's eye out to the side. So stand on that right leg. Turn your left leg in a little bit. Push the heel out and find that bull's eye and hold right from the heel. Try to avoid rotating the toe out. Stay here. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Hold. Good. and 1. Very nice. What was the difference between the first and the second? How did it feel to push your heel out versus just hold your leg out? Did it change where you were working from? Let's try the other side. Alright. Finding that balance as best you can. Standing on the left leg and just kick out the right. 

Think about it too much. Just holding it. Good. 4, 3, 2, and 1. Relax. Where did you feel it the first time? Try to make a note of it and then when you're ready, turn that leg slightly in, Kick out with your heel and hold. Keep thinking about that that heel pressing into a bull's eye. Good. 

43, 2 and 1, and release. Nice work. Alright. Let's come back to your chair And just to shake it out, let's take a toe touch forward. So, legs can be forward slightly apart. Lean forward. Maybe you touch your knees, your shins. Maybe you can reach to your toe as long as it's safe on that chair. 

Just do what you like. Notice the stretch that's happening. Good. And then walk your way all the way back up. Alright. For our last stretch, we're gonna toe touch again. This time, I'd like you to think of your hamstrings, the back of your leg between your knee and your hip. We're gonna try to think of your knee and your hip moving away from each other in order to feel more stretch along that muscle. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Alright. Nice and tall. Walk your way down towards your toes. Once you're in your stretch position, think about that hamstring and focus in on the back of your leg. Good. Walking all the way back up and then place your feet flat. Alright. How did it feel to focus on your hamstrings and that stretch? Maybe better. 

Maybe the first one was better for you. So, the point of the interoception practice is simply to get some practice focusing on two ways of doing something. 1 is just an external, I'm gonna make the shape. The other is I'm gonna make the shape but I'm gonna focus on my body part and what's happening in my body. It's not only just the body parts or the joints that we can focus on. Also, focusing on breath can be really useful. So as you go through your exercises, just remember you always have a choice. Listen for the cues with your instructors within the energized life library, mindful compass library. 

Listen for clues that will help you know where to focus for each exercise, But also, I'd love for you to weave this well-being tip into your movement practice by getting super curious about what happens when I focus on my hip when I'm doing a side bend or I focus on my jaw when I'm doing a twist. The more information you can give yourself in these very kind of specific movements that we practice, the more information your body has to move with it throughout every movement that you do. Gathering information only gives you more choices and I hope that's what you experience today. I'd love to hear about any moments that came up. And in the meantime, just remember that with practices like this, you are strong, you are resilient, and the small moments of choice really do matter. Thank you for practicing with me, and I'll see you real soon.