Flexibility with Morning Stretches
With a record amount of people around the globe having sleepless nights, waking up refreshed might not be an option these days. But we’ve got good news – adding a morning stretching routine to your day might help.
Spending 10 to 15 minutes stretching each morning is effective at helping you wake up, loosening your muscles for the day ahead — and it’s considered a form of exercise.
A daily morning routine can help energise you for the day and help reduce anxiety. That could mean you can skip that coffee until midmorning, or eliminate it all together.
A.M. stretching is also helpful for improving your posture. Are you one of the millions of people worldwide that sit behind a desk? Or are you binging on the couch in front of the tube? Implementing morning stretching into your daily routine isn’t just effective for loosening tight muscles, but helps them to become more flexible. Over time, you’ll notice a positive change in your posture. And your energy.
Life is Motion
Have you ever heard the saying ‘sitting is the new smoking’? While some of us may find ourselves sitting more than usual as Covid-19 keeps us indoors, there are still ways we can incorporate movement — safely — into our day.
In fact, fitting in the recommended 10,000 steps a day isn’t only doable, but can be fun as well by using a simple pedometer or fitness tracker to monitor your steps.
Incorporating movement into your day can be as easy as walking during phone calls. Divide your day with a quick stroll during a morning and afternoon break. Have a pet at home? It’s the perfect excuse get outside for fresh air and take a lap around the block. Not only will you please your furry friend — it’s good for you, too.
It’s important to move. Now more than ever. Even simple walking can keep you alert, emotionally vibrant and overall healthier. Plus, it’s free.
Nervous System Factoids
Heighten your brainpower by learning a little more about your nervous system with some truly amazing facts!
1. The human spinal cord consists of nearly 13.5 million neurons. The most sensitive are found at the base of your spinal cord.
2. Nerves are made up of long bundles of fiber called axons that also contain nerve cells. Bonus fact: The two types of nerve cells found within your body are called neurons and glial cells.
3. If all of the neurons in your brain were lined up, they would form a path about 600 miles long!
4. Think your car is fast? Signals travel between your brain and body at speeds up over 200 MPH (100 meters per second)!
5. Of the 43 pairs of nerves that connect your central nervous system, 31 are attached to your spinal cord — the primary focus of chiropractic care.
May 05, 2020 at 5:33 PM
Evening Paul and Maxine - thank you for the above article - love the poodle doing her exercises - Derek continues to do his exercises each day and Ruby does a few in the morning! We hope you are all ok (pups included) and Paul's knee is holding up! Hopefully, we will be back to some form of normality in the not too distant future - until then, please care and keep safe. Best wishes Joyce and Derek
May 06, 2020 at 8:14 AM
My husband and I are doing the 40 Day Step Challenge for JDRF ( raising money for Type 1 Diabetic Research) . We have to walk an average of 10000 steps a day for 40 days. This is a great motivator to get up and go! Cleaning the house running up and down stairs when you have forgotten something! Gardening and walking round our farm and little country roads soon adds the steps up...we even did 18000 steps one day! We both have step counters and are quite competitive to see who has done the most at the end of the day...definitely keeping us fit and cheerful in this difficult time....and we have raised £270 so far for this worthy cause.