This month’s Stretch of the Month is the Spinal Stretch, demonstrated by Touch Tuina co-founder Errol. This stretch is great for decompressing the spine and stretching the shoulders.
Errol uses a door to do this spinal stretch – you can use a door at home, provided it is stable and secure. For this stretch, it is very important that you:
- Use a door stop (or Errol recommends tucking in a screwdriver, if a suitable doorstop is unavailable) to help keep the door stable when baring your weight, and for general ease and safety
- Do not hang off of the door – keep both feet on the ground
- Use a towel to aid and cushion your grip
- Keep your muscles relaxed
How to do the Spinal Stretch
- Place a towel on the top of the door
- Place a screwdriver or doorstop underneath the door to keep it in place
- Stand facing the edge of the door (so the part that would usually close into the doorframe, closest to the door handle)
- Come close to the door so that your belly touches the edge of the door – your legs should be placed either side of the door, with your feet planted on the floor
- Reach your arms up so that you change the alignment of your deltoids
- Lean forward and let your body drop downwards, allowing it to stretch
- Feel free to put more weight on by releasing more
- After 10-20 seconds, or whatever feels safe for you, stand up and relax
- Do the stretch again
By doing a spinal stretch, many may decide to hang off of something (i.e. a door or bar), but when we hang on, a lot of other muscles dominate the manoeuvre. With this variation of spinal stretch, Errol wants the spine to take on most of the work. This is done by choosing a different angle for our arms (i.e. using a door instead of a horizontal bar), as well as not hanging off of the object.
When hanging off of something, our muscles tense up, making it a ‘pull’ exercise. With this exercise, Errol aims for the body/muscles to be relaxed so that they can effectively stretch.
If you’d like to see more stretches and exercises designed to support general mobility, follow us on Instagram and TikTok, and don’t forget to save them for later! For more Stretches of the Month, just take a look at our Blog page!
