How partner stretching with AIS deepens your intimate connection

How partner stretching with AIS deepens your intimate connection

Did you know that Active Isolated Stretching (AIS) with your partner can deepen your connection? This is especially true when you and your partner focus on opening your hearts and hips. 

More than 80 percent of the acupuncture points and meridians of the arms—which travel towards the heart—are located preferentially along the deep fascial planes (connective tissue between muscles and between muscles and bone). As ancient healers knew, when we open the deep fascial planes that connect our limbs to our core, we create a positive and nurturing effect on our organs and our energy systems, as described in various eastern medicines and felt in our very own bodies.

When we restore function to the joints located around our hearts and hips, not only we improve circulation for the organs in those regions, but we also open the flow for the meridians of acupuncture, and we clear and open our chakras (the energy centers in our body).This stimulates messages of health and wellness in our fascial communication systems, and, when done with a partner, increases trust and connection. 

We also cultivate awareness of the touch our partner’s tissues respond well to and enjoy the most. Although this touching is non-sexual, cultivating sensitivity and practicing focused attention have rewarding after effects.

Beyond the benefits of engaging in a shared activity to enhance individual and mutual health, partner stretching with AIS creates profound energetic results.

Chakras—the energy centers in your body—may seem even more mysterious to most people than meridians, yet they are well documented in many scientific studies including one involving bodywork at UCLA in 1988. Dr. Valery Hunt and colleagues recorded electronic measurements of the hertz produced during deep tissue sessions while Reverend Rossalyn Bruyere (an internationally renowned healer) “read” outloud the colors and auric energies she saw. Scientists then mathematically analyzed the data and found consistent correlation of the Hz between the electrode data and high-sense perception data. Elevated vibrations (associated with increased life force) as the bodywork progressed were clear.

Posture and ergonomics are also key to opening energetic channels. Descriptions of mood as reflected in postures are woven into our common vernacular: “Put your ‘chin up’,” “Put a smile on it,” Open-hearted.” These phrases demonstrate our shared acknowledgment that body postures portray and display how we are feeling. It’s easier to feel “open hearted” when you are not hunching your shoulders and compressing the area of your heart’s region. Studies have shown that sticking your chest out helps you feel braver, whereas it’s harder to “keep your chin up” when your shoulders are scrunched. 

When teaching partner stretching with AIS, I emphasize stretches that help you improve your posture, not just during the class but in your regular life. Correct posture and regular stretching will keep your meridians more flush with good energy and your chakras more open, clear, and powerful.

By engaging in scientific partner stretching with AIS, you will not only increase joint ease, range of motion and function; you and your partner will open your hips and hearts to a deep energetic renewal.