09 May Stretch your way to a feel-good day!

As wonderful as it would be to wake up feeling fresh, invigorated, and ready to absolutely own the day ahead – this is rarely the case for most of us!

Whether you’re sore from yesterday’s workout, haven’t had a great night’s sleep, are feeling a little lazy, or you’re just generally not a morning person; getting out of bed can be chore #1 of the day.

As we don’t move as much in our sleep, our muscles can cramp and tense up. Stretching of a morning helps rid our bodies of tension and stress, and increases blood flow to our muscles and brain – giving us more energy and preparing us for the day ahead.

Here are some stretches you can do without having to barely lift your head off the pillow to rejuvenate your mind and body first thing:

Chest opening

Lie on your side with your head resting on a small cushion.
Bend both legs at a 45 degree angle to the hips, keeping them together and straighten your arms out in front of your body with one arm on top of the other.
INHALE: raise your top arm up towards the ceiling, followed by your head and upper body
EXHALE: continue rotating the spine, as you lower your straight arm further down
INHALE: bring your arm back, reaching to the ceiling
EXHALE: lower your arm down to the starting position
Allow your head to follow the movement of your arm.
Hold the stretch and engage your abdominals as you bring your arm back over and down to the starting position.

Lower back stretch

Lie on your back with your legs straight.
Hug the knee of the affected leg in to your chest as far as you can go comfortably.
Pull the knee in towards the mid line of your body to increase this stretch.

Hamstring stretch

Lie on your back and bend your affected leg in towards you.
Interlace your fingers behind the thigh to firmly hold the leg as you straighten out your knee, feeling the stretch behind your thigh.

Childs pose (rest position)

Get onto your hands and knees, and drop your buttocks back onto your heels.
Stretch your hands forwards, dropping your head between your shoulders towards the floor.
You will feel this stretch through your back and upper arms.

So start your day right; shake off the stiffness and make getting up feel good!