5 Easy Stretches, 10 Minutes A Day: That’s All You Need
There is an old saying, “Where one spends their time… grows.”
In other words, where we put our attention and priorities manifests in our lives. I have lived long enough to know that it is true!
Time for self-care is sometimes—or should I say most times—put way down on the list of our priorities or never even put there at all. It is not important until we are presented with an issue in our body that we are forced to address, like reduced mobility, surgery, or medications to reduce pain.
Taking time for yourself may even seem selfish to some. But if we don’t “pause” (sorry, I had to put that in) to take time for ourselves and listen to our bodies, it will eventually affect others in our life: our loved ones, our friends, our co-workers, teammates, etc.
If we are down from an injury or illness, they are too, because we aren’t there for them. We are all connected.
Self-care is not selfish!
We are taking care of ourselves so that we can function at our highest level, continue to participate in life, and not be stuck in our bodies.
One important method of self-care is stretching.
Not only does stretching relax you, it also elongates tight muscle tissue, releases stiff fascia, and allows you to operate at a greater range of motion.
Some studies are even beginning to suggest that stretching could play a significant role in the treatment of health problems we wouldn’t normally associate with tight muscle tissue, like gastrointestinal distress and maybe even tumor growth. You can read more about these fascinating new studies here.
What if we all just took 10 minutes a day to do 5 easy stretches that could change our lives in a BIG way?
What if Assisted Stretching became an important part of our lifestyle and even helped to increase our life span?
I believe it can!
Let’s invest time back into our bodies with self-care and stretching. We have nothing to lose unless we DON’T!
Here are 5 easy stretches that you can do right in your own kitchen.
Try this stretching routine for 10 minutes every day for 4 weeks—I believe you will feel amazing and want to stretch more!
Do these while you’re making your coffee in the morning or waiting on your dinner to cook.
1. Total Upper Body Stretch & Spine Elongation
1. Hold onto kitchen/bath sink.
2. Step back, arms-length away from sink.
3. Pull away and drop your hips and head between elbows.
4. Keep a tiny bend in your knees while you do this.
2. Hip Openers & Hamstrings
1. Face the kitchen counter, standing close to it.
2. Lift one leg onto counter, keeping it straight.
3. Turn upper body to face lifted leg.
4. Lean in toward leg.
5. Repeat with other leg.
3. Calves
1. Face the counter and stand elbow-width from counter.
2. Step one leg back behind you and allow your heel to hit floor.
3. Press away from counter with hands.
4. Repeat with other leg.
Do this stretch next to your kitchen counter.
4. Quads
1. Stand facing close to counter.
2. Hold onto the counter with one hand.
3. Bend knee of one leg and grab onto foot behind you.
4. Pull heel of foot to your bottom, keeping the bended knee down.
5. lightly press hips forward for deeper stretch.
6. Repeat with other leg.
5. Feet
1. With bare or socked feet, stand close to counter facing it.
2. Roll top of toes of one foot over and press into floor.
3. Heel is up and toes are pressed down.
4. Press and hold, then roll back to ball of foot.
5. Repeat with other foot.
