Stretch and Breathe

I have been trying to stretch more and just breathe more.  I realize it has made me feel so much better and more relaxed throughout the day.

First thing to start us off? A big stretch. With all the stresses of the day and working on the computer for so long I often find myself tightly wound with a sore neck and achy back. The worse part is that I can crack way too many bones on command now and I find myself doing it all day. Not good. With "mindful stretches and deep breathing" I hope to find a "less achy and more energized" me. I tried a few stretches from "Stretch the Stress Out" written by Kate Hanley for Body & Soul and I must say – I should be doing this more often.

Simple stretches like...

Sitting tall in a chair, while placing your hands behind your head to support the weight, while you lift your spine and chest towards the ceiling, stretches out your chest and upper back muscles...

Dangling your head and arms out in front of you relieves lower back aches and releases over-worked muscles...

Carefully moving your head up and down, and from side to side releases neck tension...

And hugging your knee to your chest while flexing your foot for 10 - 15 secs, opens your hips, relieves lower back pain, awakens your ankle and foot muscles and stretches your hamstrings.

There's so much you can do to release the tension from everyday life, which can then progress to things like yoga or pilates. I just need to remind myself how easy it should be to incorporate about 30mins of yoga a few times a week. After a long work day it's hard to get moving again, but as my boyfriend once said, "Think about how great you'll feel afterwards"... he's right, I start tomorrow.

For more stretches, see here. Also, for those of you inspired by fashion (myself included), that gorgeous blue tank is by SKIN, and the shorts are by KD Dance.

Courtesy of  http://inspirationforwellbeing.blogspot.com