Morning Stretches You Should Be Doing Everyday

Morning stretches can be very beneficial to your health, mind, and body. Starting each day with a morning stretch routine can help in waking your body up for the day ahead. Also, stretching in the morning can help relieve tension and stress that everyday life can place over us.

Why You Should Stretch Each Morning

Adding morning stretches to your day has many benefits. Not only will you feel refreshed and energized, but stretching every morning also has many health benefits. Morning stretches can Give your relief from headaches, insomnia, fatigue, and much more. By slowly getting your body warmed up for the day, your muscles will ache less as you have prepared your body for the day ahead.

Also, adding morning stretches to your daily routine can improve digestive health, improve back pain, help with sinusitis and many other health issues. Below are some great starters for adding morning stretches to start your day, all of which can be done in the comfort of your bed.

Hug Yourself In Bed

This is an easy stretch that you can do while still laying in bed. This simple pose will help relieve tension in your lower back, which is great if you wake with back pain after a night’s rest. To do this stretch you lay in your bed or on the floor, bring one knee to your chest, pulling until you feel stretching. Hold for twenty seconds and release. Continue to the opposite knee and repeat.

After both knees have been done individually, bring both knees to your chest until you feel stretching and hold again for twenty seconds and then release. Do this full stretch at least two times to complete the circuit.

Stretch Your Pelvis (Bridge)

As you are still lying face up in bed or the floor, move on to the bridge stretch to continue your morning stretch.  Place your arms palms down on either side of your body for added support while pulling your feet close to your bum. Slowly lift your hips off of the mattress or floor until your back is no longer touching the surface. You should feel stretching in your hips, thighs and, back. Doing this stretch correctly will result in the majority of your weight being on your shoulders.

Make sure you are not placing your weight on to your neck because this can cause strain to the neck. Slowly roll back down to the mattress and repeat at least two to six times. When you have finished, slowly lower yourself back down on the surface and continue slow breathing. There are many different variations of this pose that will make it easy to find the right one for your flexibility and slowly progress to the more advanced pose. If you find you are a beginner you can place a support under your hips.

Childs Pose

Again this stretch can easily be accomplished while still in bed, or you can move to the floor. The Child’s Pose stretch is perfect to help stretch hips, thighs, legs, and ankles while it allows the muscles in the front of the body to relax. Child’s Pose is known to help reduce stress and fatigue both in the body and the mind. If modified to have support for the head and chest area, this pose can also aid in the relief of back and neck.

To achieve this pose start on hands and knees and then proceed to spread kneed apart while keeping your toes touching. Your bum should be resting on your heels. After obtaining this position, sit straight up and feel the stretch slightly in your spine, then pull your arms straight into the air and then bow to the floor. Your torso should be between your things and your forehead should be touching the floor or mattress. Again, this pose also allows for many different variations dependant upon your own fitness limits such as using a pillow under your head so you do not have to stretch as far.

At this point, your arms should be extended in front of you with palms face down to help maintain balance by easily pushing your body back to keep your bum on your heels. While breathing softly, maintain this pose for at least a minute, or longer if you prefer. After your desired time, simply use your hands to slowly walk your upper body back to an upright sitting position.

Butterfly

The Butterfly Pose is another delightful stretch you can add to your morning stretches while still sitting in bed. This pose just requires you to sit in an upright position, and bend your knees outward to allow your feet to come together and pulled close to your inner thighs.

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To further this stretch press down on your thighs with your elbows while using your hands to bring your feet closer to your body. This should have you bending slightly forward. Hold for ten seconds and release the stretch but stay in the position. Allow yourself to do this at least four times, or more.

Butterfly stretch works to stretch inner thighs as well as your groin, lower back, and hips. This pose needs to be executed carefully by making sure you are bending at your hips and not with your lower back.

Downward Dog

Although this pose is better accomplished on a hard surface, it too is one that can be done in the comfort of your bed. The Downward Dog should be added to your morning stretches because it will help to stretch many muscles in your body all at once. Downward Dog is not only a great stretching pose but also great for adding strength to your body through this simple pose.

This pose allows you to energize your entire body because it deeply stretches and strengthens your hands, spine, hamstrings, shoulders and more. It’s also great to relieve headaches, fatigue, stress, and even mild depression because the blood flow to the brain calms your nervous system while improving memory and concentration.

To accomplish this pose begin in a standing position. Keep your balance as you place your hands on the floor making yourself resemble an upside-down v. Do not strain your neck, allow your neck to relax as you hold this pose for at least thirty seconds. Continue to further your hold time in small intervals to work up to a minute.

Which of these morning stretches will you be adding to your routine? Let us know in the comments below!

Feature Image Source: https://yogamoha.com/yoga-asana-butterfly-pose-badhakonasana/