Sometimes, some nights aren’t as smooth as you expect them to be, so you wake up feeling and looking all groggy. To get back on your feet when you wake up and face the long hours ahead of you, engage in stretching exercises. And even those people who sleep peacefully, after about 7 to 9 hours of sleep, stretch will ensure that you start the day right.
Your muscles lose tone when you sleep and fluids tend to pull along your back. However, stretching functions to massage the fluid back to the normal position, and allows protection of the muscles from over-extension, which reduces the risk of muscle-sprain.
Below are some stretches that you should do every morning.
1. Long stretch
Inhale deeply and extend your arms high up overhead. Then exhale and return to the starting standing position. Try to align your movement with the rhythm of your breath, so that you feel a stretch in your shoulders, back and torso. Do 10 reps of this.
2. Supine twists
Lie flat on your back and bring one knee in towards your belly. Cradle the knee with the other hand, then pull the knee across your body and to the floor, applying a subtle pressure. Ensure that your shoulders are on the ground as you do this. Stop when you feel a stretch from your lower back and in your glutes. Repeat on the other side.
3. Good mornings
Lock your hands behind your head and keep your elbows wedged wide open. Now, bend at the hips, with your knees slightly bent, while you reach your butt back as far as you can. Tip your torso forward as you do this, with your core engaged. Maintain a neutral spine and try not to round your back as you do this. Hold this pose for a moment, then draw your hips forward, raise torso, and stand upright back to the starting position.
4. Child’s pose with rotation
Sit on your shins, with your knees out and heels beneath your butt. Now, reach one arm across the center of your torso and the other arm raised toward the ceiling. Maintain this pose for about 20 seconds or till you feel a stretch in the hips, shoulders, chest and back. Repeat on the other side.
Start your day right with these stretches.
image courtesy of: media1.popsugar-assets.com.
