Are you preparing for a full day of sitting? It is how a lot of us spend our day. Working. Driving. Watching TV. What have you.
Make these 7 stretches and exercises a start of your morning routine for better overall spinal health.
- Spine Warm Up – Start kneeling and sit back on your heels. Grab hold of your knees. Round in and contract. Let the head relax completely down. Feel the shoulder blades broaden.
2. Rabbit – Inhale and lift the spine to neutral. Reach to grab hold of the heels. Bring the forehead to the mat. Don’t put too much pressure on the head. Lift the hips up. Finding traction in the spine. Keep hold of the heels. Shoulders lifting away from the ears.
3. Child’s Pose – Release hold of the heels. Lower the hips down. Relaxing with arms back at sides. Maybe rocking a bit side to side.
4. Cat/Cow – Come up to table top on hands and knees. Inhale to drop the belly, lift the gaze and curl the tailbone up. Exhale to round and contract chin to chest. Repeat for several rounds of breath.
5. Low Lunge – Step the right foot forward between the hands. Come up to the fingertips. Keep knee stacked over the ankle. Sink hips forward. Opening through the hip flexors. Roll shoulders back and down. Let gravity do most of the work as you hold for a few breaths.
Repeat on the other side.
6. Dead Bugs – Lower all the way to your back. Bring the knees up over the hips. Flex the feet. Reach arms up. Palms facing towards one another. Keep them stacked. Push the low back into the floor. Abdominals should engage. Inhale to reach the right arm back and extend left leg out straight. Exhale back to neutral. Alternating sides. Do 5 rounds.
7. Reclined Spinal Twist – Let both of your knees drop to the left. Reach the right arm out to the side. Use the left hand to guide knee down. Right shoulder grounded. Trying to stack the hips. Lift up and switch sides.
Give them a try on your own, or check out the 10 minute class on YouTube below.
Kassandra
