Practice: Seated Partner Stretches

Jenna Zaffino:

Hi everyone. I'm Jenna. I'm Sterling. 

Welcome to your seated partner stretch. So today we're gonna be working with each other's bodies and support in order to receive some really good nourishing stretches for our upper body, our spine, chest, back, and also our legs. You'll need a sturdy seat that can support you because you'll be shifting your weight around on it, so you just wanna make sure that your chair isn't going to be too wobbly or that you're not on a slippery surface. And in terms of your partner, you'll wanna start out closer, and the most important piece of this is to stay in communication about what's working and what's not. Sterling and I will be modeling that, and we're gonna work out some of these stretches as we're in them so you can hear in real time how it feels to work with 2 people in and exercise. Yeah. So we're gonna start out close together. In order for us to get to where we need to be to move our spines, we're just a little bit away from the back of the chair and then we've got kind of our knees one. 

Sterling Lato:

Staggered 

Jenna Zaffino:

Staggered. That is the word. Already working together. Perfect. Alright. So we'll go I'll go and. She'll go on top, and we're just gonna take a gentle grasp so that you have a good amount of tug and push pull with your partner. We'll begin with the person who's in my position. We'll call person a, person b. We'll begin doing a little backbend. So as I backbend, Sterling's going to enjoy a spine stretch forward. 

So I'll start to just give her a little tug, and she's rounding her back. And what I feel right now is that she's giving me just a little bit of resistance. So it's almost like she's pushing her back towards the chair behind me as I back bend here. How is that for you? 

Sterling Lato:

This feels amazing. 

Jenna Zaffino:

It feels amazing. Do you want more pull? 

Sterling Lato:

No. No. What about you? 

Jenna Zaffino:

I'm good. Yeah. And then we'll decide to reverse. And so now Sterling becomes a leader and then I get the good stretch. Not that the back and isn't good, but it's just a little different. 

Yeah. So it does help to kind of resist and round back, and it does feel amazing. You can breathe into the tight spaces that can be helpful. And let's go back and forth one more time. And, again, again, always just staying in that communication. So she's giving me a lot of weight that I have I almost feel like I have to move, which is good because it it feels like a strong stretch instead of one that's flimsy. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Anything you wanna add?  

Sterling Lato:

You're pulling enough so that I feel like I'm getting a stretch, but not so much that I feel it. So I'm going to fall forward. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Okay. Good. It's very important. 

Yes. Yeah. I know nobody wants to fall during the stretch. Good. So last one. And of course, you can spend more or less time in any of these positions. And groaning is recommended. Good. 

And then we'll meet each other up in the center. Alright. So now we're gonna take opposite hands, my right and your right. Right. So okay. Opposite people, same side hands. And from here, we're just gonna take a little, rock backwards. So we're hanging from each other's arm and then turn away from the arm that's stretching and the stretch we're sensing is on the back of your shoulder here. 

Sterling Lato:

You can hold on to the chair with your opposite hand.  

Jenna Zaffino:

I almost feel like we might wanna move our chairs apart a little bit. Sure. That's right. Do you wanna try? Just for a little more tug. Just a little adjustment. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Just pull my shoulder. That's better. So sometimes you need a little more space in these stretches, and this is exactly the way you wanna navigate them. Just keep talking with each other.  

Sterling Lato:

Helps to have a back on the chair so you don't feel as though you're going to sort of a trust exercise. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Yeah. Definitely. Having that chair back is it's very, comforting. Good. And then let's come up, and we're gonna go palms towards each other, and we just stretch the shoulder. Now we're gonna try to stretch our chest. So I'm just gonna maneuver the feet a little bit and then turn your body, but keep your hands pressing against each other. So you get a stretch right along where you point to where it is on you. 

Right. Yeah. Right along the front of your peck muscle. Now these muscles, interestingly enough, can get very, very tight when you have breathing restrictions or challenges. So I know for my mother, who's a person living with asthma, these muscles become really tense on her. If she's had a number of instances where she's had challenges. So it's really nice to just open them back up in a really calm way where you can feel that hopefully release or just that tension across the chest. And I would say the last thing is pressing your elbow forward a little bit can help with that stretch. 

How's that for you? 

Oh, yes. Especially if you have tight shoulders. Mhmm. That's pretty much everybody right now. Yeah. Yeah. 

Good. Alright. Let's and, and then we'll do that shoulder stretch on the other side, even though I kind of wanna stay there all day. Good. 

All right. Ready? So we'll grasp and then we're gonna lean back and turn away and I think I'm kind of yeah. That's a really good one. Even on the forearms here, it feels nice. 

Sterling Lato:

It does. Yeah. Yeah. Gentle little massage. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Uh-huh. Hey. We'll take it. 

You will take any massage you can get. Good. So in addition to the muscles on the front, those shoulder blade muscles can get real tight as well. Things like just coughing, sneezing, breathing in general. We don't, we don't always take into account how much the actions of, you know, just living through the world and the environment and any challenges we have really does put stress on our muscles. So it's nice to give them an opposite, experience. Good. All right. We're gonna move on. We don't wanna move on. That one felt really good. 

Jenna Zaffino:

All right. So a good amount of pressure through the and, then turn so that you feel some opening across the front, and then if you can press your elbow forward a little bit, that can help it get right into that joint capsule. And then if you can turn just a tiny bit to the side. Just take a moment to breathe. 

Good. This is my non-dominant hand, so I don't feel quite as much tension here. How about you? 

Sterling Lato:

Same. I'm left handed, but I do most things with the right side of my body. Oh, 

Jenna Zaffino:

Good. Come on back to the center. Alright. Feeling good. Feeling good. Alright. Then we're gonna go into a lateral flexion, which is a lot of stretching around the shoulder, but also can be some good opening around the rib cage, so let's take our legs a little bit wider and then we're gonna take our palms together and just kind of lean forward slightly. And it's important to keep pressure from one hand to the other against each other so that we feel supported. 

And then we're just gonna dance. This is gonna take a side bend over to the side. If you're side bending to the right, you want to make sure your left sits bone. Your left hip is really grounded and heavy. So you're not tipping over, but you're just bending. Good. And then to come up, we'll press into our hands. We have a good amount of support.  We'll come back to center. Here we go the other way.
 

Sterling Lato:

Ribs are so tight. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Let's come back to center, and then let's go over to the first side. We're gonna take a couple of breaths. Now the idea, if you've watched the bucket handle breathing and bucket and pump handle breathing video, it's just to let those bucket handles move. And if you don't know what that means, it's just breathing to find some movement in your rib cage, the side that's open. So, sometimes imagining you're just and of blowing up a balloon, filling up that lung with air can be helpful. Maybe we'll take one more breath, and then we'll come back to the center. Oh, that was a big opening. And one more to the other side. And you found your shape, just breathing for space. Good. And then coming all the way back to the center, don't forget to push in to your hands. Yeah. 

Sterling Lato:

Stretching is hard work. It also is a great routine to do before bed. Right? 

Jenna Zaffino:

Excellent routine. Especially if you sleep like a T Rex like I do. 

Sterling Lato:

Yes. I do. Yes. No. Everything's just a tight little ball. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Open up and rest. Alright. Let's move on to our legs. We're going to scoot back just a little bit farther and then we're gonna start with just a hinge stretch. So if you've watched any of the other seated exercise classes, we're always working on a hip hinge which is flat back, forward or back, so we're really working from the hip joint. I'm sure you can add in a spine stretch to this one, but right now we're really working on the inner thighs and then we're gonna take that into a rotation. So we'll go back to the original and then I'll lean back first and then Sterling's gonna lean forward. So chest out, kinda butt out too, reaching forward. 

Good. And then press down into your feet to come back up. And then I'll go in the opposite direction. And we just wanna keep our seat connected to the chair. Good. 

Let's do one more of these, and then we'll go into the twisty one. Making sure that your knees are pressing open, not falling inward. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Yeah. Mhmm. Mhmm. 

Yeah. And they are. Good. And then coming back to the center. Alright. Now we're gonna use each other's leg as a little bit of extra resistance, maybe scooting in a little bit. So we'll go ahead and turn to the side on the chair and you wanna just keep turning so much that you get a bit of an inner thigh stretch right here. If you can turn towards the back of your chair and we are pressing our legs against each other, so we're both simultaneously engaging your inner thigh muscles, maybe even a little of your hip as well, but then also lengthening them. 

Jenna Zaffino:

And we're definitely popping in our hips as well. 

Sterling Lato:

Great middle back stretch as well. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Yeah. Little rotation for those spinal muscles. 

And again, you just remember that your range is your range, my range is my range. More range is not always better. It's the range that gives you the best experience that matters the most. Good. And then let's stay here, but then we'll take the feet on the opposite side and we're gonna have a straight leg on the leg that you just stretched and we're going to twist to the opposite side. And ideally, this is for your outer hip outer thigh. So we wanna get lots of length there. If this isn't working for you, an upgrade might be to put your foot on each other's chair for a more intense stretch. 

But if you kinda lean into that hip, will you point to where it is? 

Sterling Lato:

So if you're hinging forward a little, you'll feel more right around you. Oh, yeah. Thank you. That's helpful. Little in your hamstring and little in your hip. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Good. All right. Coming back up and then we'll go to the inner thigh to the opposite side. So knee to knee, and then just finding that connection of both pressing and rotating. And thing I always try to do in my workouts is like make the stretch the part of the workout, but anytime I give myself the chance to do a like actual stretch session, I'm never mad about it. 

Jenna Zaffino:

I have no regrets. What about you? How often are you stretching?  

Sterling Lato:

Probably more than I should because I use it to procrastinate my strength training work. Oh. Well, there you go.  

Jenna Zaffino:

Honesty out of the mouth of Sterling, which is important. Right? Now let's come back around. I love that. 

Alright. So straighten your legs, legs, put them on the opposite side of each other, rotate towards the hip that's stretching, and then what did you say? Hinge. That was the difference. Yeah. So a little lean forward really made that wow. It makes a big difference. Listen, if you're not finding a wow moment, get curious about your positioning of your body because oftentimes, you're just one tiny shift away from your own wow moment. And, again, like, her wow moment is not mine, mine isn't hers. 

Sterling Lato:

We have to find it for ourselves. Although yours did make me go wow. 

Jenna Zaffino:

I kinda wanna stay here for a long time, but let's come all the way up. Alright. So let's stay with the same leg and then we'll go into a hamstring stretch. So we'll lengthen it forward. You've got good stability on your other side. And then we're gonna do the same kind of bending, extending, or hinging as we did before. Yeah. So, I'll go back and you go forward. 

Sterling Lato:

Toes are turned up for that. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Feeling that? That's it. Yeah. A little more calf. How's that for you? She's flexible, so I'm just gonna relax down here. But you're gonna have to pull me back up when the time is right. 

Jenna Zaffino:

I know. So if you have a flexible partner, and bad news for you. I too have some flexibility, so she'll lean back. Oh, maybe not today, though.  

Sterling Lato:

Grip a little higher. We build up long arms.

Jenna Zaffino:

Yeah. There you go. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Oh. And then I'm gonna push down into my leg to lift back up. We'll do more of these on this leg. One thing to be aware of is that we're kind of working with a soft knee on this straight leg. Of course, if you feel like you straighten your leg and there's no discomfort or pain or anything like that, then great. Do what feels good for you. But if you get any discomfort on the top or the back of your knee, just unlock your knee slightly. It means it'll still be straight, but it won't be jammed down because really, we want to feel the stretch in the muscle of your hamstring, which is on the back of your thigh bone, not your knee. 

So I always kind of think let's go the other way. I always think about where's the spotlight of the stretch. Right. Yeah. And for you, is it higher or lower on your leg? Higher. Higher towards your sit bone. Correct. Yeah.

For me, it's middle, which is nice. Oh, she's giving me a little pull, which is really nice, but also unexpected.  

Sterling Lato:

Should have warned you. 

Good. And then press down to come up. 

Sterling Lato:

We're ready for a nap.  

Jenna Zaffino:

Let's go to the other side. Good. Last time, last stretch, So hinge back. And I can give you more of a pull too if you want. 

Sterling Lato:

Sure.  

Jenna Zaffino:

There you go. This side's a little tighter.

Yeah. And this is a nice thing to, you know, to definitely dialogue as we're working through these stretches. Right? Like and if you're not able to lean back, you could just pull them towards you like that. I feel like the lean back is something that you and I both wanna do because I don't wanna work. 

Sterling Lato:

We wanna lay down. That's why we wanna just rest. Good. 

Jenna Zaffino:

Tension. Tension. And when you hit that tense point, it is a good idea to just try to make some kind of conversation happen with it, even if it's just small talk. We can go back to one of our practices in the self inquiry library, which is what does this sensation want me to know? So sometimes it wants you to know that it wants you to stop. And you listen once more. Yeah. And I'm finishing up with the last one. 

So as we finish up on this last stretch, your weaving well-being tip for this week is to see if you can repeat some of these stretches with your partner. Just pick out maybe the one that felt the best. Maybe it's a shoulder stretch or a back stretch and or a leg stretch or get creative because of these stretches, we just kind of figure it out amongst each other. So certainly something if you think something would feel good, give it a try. If it doesn't feel great, then you can scrap it and move on to the next one. That's the beauty of having the choice about what to do. It's you can't you can't go wrong with that. So try out some partner stretches this week. 

See how they go. We hope that you enjoy them. Anything you wanna add? 

Sterling Lato:

It's a great life lesson too. Try it, if it doesn't work, don't do it again. 

Jenna Zaffino:

I love it. I love it. Life lessons all over the place in our libraries. Alright, everyone. Remember that you are strong and resilient and the small moments, the shared moments really do matter. We'll see you soon.