During your day it is easy to tense up from stress, so why not start your day off right with some morning stretches to keep you flexible and limber? Stretching will increase your blood flow and relieve any stiff areas in your neck and back. It is important to remember to keep these stretches extremely light and simple since your muscles are “cold” when just waking up. Once you start feeling the benefits of stretching daily, you won’t want to stop and you may even save yourself some trips to the chiropractor!

Do some light stretching in bed to start your day off on the right foot:

• Your first stretch should be while still lying in bed. Raise you arms over your head and elongate yourself. Point your toes at first, then rotate your ankles to activate the muscles in your feet.  The muscles at the bottom of your feet can get an abrupt awakening when you first step out of bed so loosening them up will help to prevent any pains in your feet.
• While still reclined, pull your knees in and roll up in a ball. While on your back, roll  side to side and up and down your spine to loosen up your lower and middle back.
• Then do a spinal twist to further relieve any tension in your lower back.  Start by lying flat on your back with your arms by your sides.  Then bend your legs and drop them to one side, placing one leg completely on top of the other, and lay your arm out in the opposite direction while facing your outstretched arm. After about a minute, switch sides.  Don’t force anything in this stretch and you may hear some pops which is typical.
• Now as you sit up on the edge of your bed, loosen up those neck muscles by shrugging your shoulders up toward your ears. Repeat several times and rotate your shoulders forward and backwards. Do some neck stretches by placing you ear on your shoulder side to side and only forward and backwards. If you like to roll your head, only do it with your head tilting gently forward 180 degrees from shoulder to shoulder. Your neck is not designed to roll in a full circle and actually puts more stress on your spine when you roll it back at full 360 degrees.

Now that you have awakened your muscles and increased the circulation throughout your body you can start your day feeling fresh and energetic. As you get older, flexibility becomes more important, so maintain a good stretching regime to keep feeling great!

What are your favorite stretches?