Lower back, hips, knees and shoulders

Gate Pose: Seated Chair

The most accessible lateral stretch: a seated side bend that gently opens your side body with no kneeling demand, suitable for everyone.

How to do it

1. 1

   Sit tall on a chair with both feet down

   Move toward the front of the seat with the feet about hip width apart.

2. 2

   Anchor both sitting bones into the seat

   This is what makes the bend happen through the side of your body instead of the whole torso tipping.

3. 3

   Reach one arm up and lengthen

   Grow taller first. If reaching overhead is uncomfortable, rest that hand on your hip instead.

4. 4

   Bend to the opposite side

   Go only as far as both sitting bones stay down. The lower arm can rest on the thigh or the side of the chair.

5. 5

   Hold for thirty to sixty seconds, then change sides

   A smaller range is a perfectly good version of this.

What to watch for

One sitting bone lifting off the seat as you reach over. Keep both down and accept a smaller bend, because that is where the side of the body actually works.

Ways to adjust it

• Reduce range
• Arm on hip if overhead provokes

Other ways to do this movement

Every version below is the same movement set up differently, so one of them usually suits. See all Gate Pose versions in one place, ordered from gentlest to strongest.

• Gate Pose: Classic
• Gate Pose: Movement

Before you try it

Move within a range that stays comfortable. Stop if this brings on sharp pain, dizziness, or symptoms that travel down an arm or a leg, and speak to a clinician before repeating it.

From the clinically authored Vinys movement library.