Always Be Stretching

There are so many subtle things we can do to help ourselves look good, feel great and shine bright, so many action steps we can take for empowered wellness. One that I’ve been borderline obsessed about lately is stretching throughout the day.

I think between stress, cold weather, and lots of sitting around, our bodies lose space. Here’s what a lack of space in the body looks like: 1. feeling and looking shorter and stockier, 2. pain when moving, 3. hitting a fatigue threshold sooner rather than later, 4. shallow breathing, and 5. stiffled/compromised ranges of motion (a.k.a., poor mobility). 

I’m going to say something that is not politically correct but it needs to be said:old people have lost bodily space. You can be 80 and young, and you can be 35 and old. The difference lies in the degree of spaciousness in one’s body. 

1. Pay attention to your alignment. Proper alignment is the foundation of maintaining space. Slouching and shrugging reduces space.
2. If you sit for long periods of time, make it a point to get up and move around periodically. Energy stagnation is an enemy of space.
3. A slow, deep, elongated inhale is space-creating, so inhale big, especially when you feel contracted. (A yawn is your body’s intelligent, built-in way of creating more space.) If all you can do is take a bigger breath, then that’s your action step! 
4. Tune into your sense of space within your body by tuning into breath. When your energy isn’t flowing, breathing is probably up in the throat and shoulders instead of deeper down in the belly. Low and slow breathing? There’s flow. Short and quick breathing? No flow! And we all know that being cold can tighten the breath, so avoid chilly situations. 
5. Remember, stretching is actually DELICIOUS. It should never be a chore and it can always feel fantastic. Go easy, but go. If you can touch your toes with straight legs, great. If you need a very big bend in your knees, that’s great too. Stretching can be passive (like a child’s pose) or it can be active (like repeated shoulder loops). Lots of options! 

Don’t wait for your workout to stretch – always be stretching (A.B.S). Have you notice what our dogs and cats do? They stretch throughout the day!  Also worth noting:a really big perk to A.B.S is grounding. When you stretch, you feel, and when you feel, you are here now. 

 So let’s get to it…let’s always be stretching, and Let’s Move!