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Lower back, hips, knees, ankles, neck, upper back, shoulders and wrists

Standing Supported Full-Body Release

A standing, chair-supported sequence that opens the hips, chest, and spine while preparing your balance and legs for a standing practice.

Restorative240 to 300 seconds
Start your first sessionFree · no credit card · your session is built from it

How to do it

  1. 1

    Stand tall beside a chair you can hold

    Feet hip width, chair within comfortable reach and steady. Settle your weight evenly through both feet before anything moves.

  2. 2

    Step back to a short lunge, tail tucked

    From the short lunge, roll the pelvis under slightly so the front of the back hip lengthens. That small tuck does the work here, not the depth of the lunge.

  3. 3

    Set a wide warrior stance, front knee bent

    Front foot forward, back foot planted, front knee bent only a little and tracking over the ankle. Keep a hand on the chair if balance asks for it, then change sides.

  4. 4

    Open your arms wide with the elbows bent

    From the same stance, let the chest broaden while the legs hold the shape. Reduce how far back the arms travel, or keep them alongside your body, if the shoulders complain.

  5. 5

    Lengthen one side, then turn the head slowly

    Let one side of the body lengthen without forcing it, then let the head turn a short distance each way. A neutral gaze is fine if turning is not welcome.

  6. 6

    Stand still to finish, four to five minutes in total

    Shorten the lunge holds and the side bend anywhere the legs or the back are working harder than they should.

What to watch for

The front knee drifting forward past the ankle in the lunge or the warrior stance, or the arms reaching so far back that you tip. The legs set the shape here and the arms only open the chest.

Ways to adjust it

  • Shorter lunge hold
  • Reduce side bend
  • Reduce lunge depth
  • Reduce lunge range
  • Remove head turns
  • Neutral gaze
  • Reduce cactus-arm range
  • Arms alongside body instead of cactus
  • Fists
  • Reduce hand-weight time

Other ways to do this movement

Every version below is the same movement set up differently, so one of them usually suits.

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.

One movement is a start. A session is the thing.

A few questions about your body and how it is today, and Vinys builds a session around it, including which movements to leave out.

Start your first session

From the clinically authored Vinys movement library.