Hello there,

We hope your trackers are full by now.

In this first stretching challenge, we created some solid habits together:

• Week 1: Creating a static stretching habit
• Week 2: Creating a dynamic stretching habit
• Week 3: Creating a Restorative Yoga Habit

The first week we started with 5 minutes of daily stretching. It seemed like a small amount of time, didn’t it? But if you’ve made it this far, you’ve started to notice a difference, or at least enjoy it. Tell yourself when you think you’re not doing enough or when you haven’t been able to do your exercises for a few days.

You’ve already built some good habits into your daily routine:

• 5 minutes a day of static/dynamic stretching.
• 20 minutes of restorative stretching once a week,

And you’re about to add the icing on the cake.

So what are your first impressions after 3 weeks of stretching? Have you seen how good it feels to take time for yourself? Are you ready to continue with our week number 4?

Week 4 objective: share your stretching practice

This week number 4 will be different from the previous 3.

This fourth and final week, we intend to take what we’ve learned, and take it a step further by sharing it with someone close to you.

• Continue to take 5 minutes out of your day to stretch statically or dynamically (as seen in week 1 & 2)
• Try to take at least 20 minutes in your week to do a Restorative Yoga exercise (as seen week 3)

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• Take time to look in the mirror in the morning and connect with yourself

• Kiss a friend/family member heart to heart and/or look her in the eye for several seconds

• Start playing partner yoga

Exercise of the mirror : Look at yourself in the mirror

3-minute exercise:

With a mirror, practice looking into your eyes. First, look at the centre of the pupil of your left eye for about a minute. This allows you to make eye contact with yourself: both of your eyes will be looking at the eye reflected in the mirror, but you will feel that the energy is coming mainly from your left eye. Look slowly. Then change your gaze from one eye to the other. Look into your right eye for about a minute and feel the energy coming out of your right eye.

Then look at your third eye, the point between your eyes on the bridge of your nose. Let your vision expand peripherally until you can see in each eye simultaneously. This time you will feel as if you really see yourself. Look at yourself while looking at yourself :). This is a very interesting exercise.

Gaze and hug exercises

The gaze and hug exercises

The gaze and hug exercises can be done with a family member/friend. We encourage you to do these practices if you can’t find anyone to play partner yoga with. These exercises can be done in your everyday life. They are important for laying the foundation for a trusting relationship and creating real connections. The eye contact exercise can be done with a complete stranger, however they may be intimidated ^^.

Eye contact exercise: Eye contact during the day

During your day, practice the eye contact exercise:

When you connect with another person in this way, the connection is mental. You become one with that person. You are together in the same world, acknowledging the existence of the other. You look beyond the superficial identification. You see the real person inside, and you find yourself in their home, seeing what is like you.

Hugging exercises: physical contact during the day

We invite you to have a heart-to-heart hug with someone you love.
In the “heart-to-heart hug”, both partners make contact on the left side of the chest, but most people, without realising it, do it on the right side to protect themselves. When the contact is heart area to heart area: the embrace becomes more intimate.

Maybe if you don’t hug regularly, it reminds you of a mother’s hug, because of the warm support you feel when you receive it (and when you give it). Try to hold on to this hug for longer than usual. You will then be able to feel the other person’s heartbeat against your chest, so give yourself over to the embrace.

PARTNER YOGA

For this last week, we would like you to choose a friend and share some practices with that person.

The exercises we suggest on page 2 of the Week 4 tracker have the same benefits as the previous 3 weeks. However, this time you won’t be doing them alone, but with someone else!

We know it’s hard to get motivated when it comes to doing our exercises. It’s actually more fun to pick up your phone and distract yourself on Insta.

This week you’ll find motivation because you won’t be the only one involved in this fun stretching routine.

You’ll be introduced to PARTNER YOGA (our favourite). Our Acro-Wine duo teach this practice in New Zealand, and we want to introduce you to it this week.

Life is made up of small pleasures. Sincere eye contact at breakfast with your partner. A moment of physical contact with a friend. Happiness is made up of these small achievements. If you don’t have these billions of small successes and shared moments, the big moments mean nothing.

Norman Lear

How it works :

• Choose your stretching partner at the beginning of the week (your son, partner, sister …) someone you see several times a week / you can also show these exercises to friends/family just once!
• Take out your tracker week 4, and follow the exercises on page 2
• Hold each posture for 30 seconds,
• Debrief with your partner
• Fill in the tracker

Don”t forget to download your tracker down below

Share in comments your experience of the challenge so far and/or join our facebook group

Acro-Wine