Rock Out and Stretch Out!!
Written By NaviPay Blog Contributor:
Suzanne Davis
Coastal Business Evolution, LLC
Our daily lives have been well, unusual for quite a long stretch of time. Just when we think there is going to be flexibility in reopening, restrictions seem to be tightening up. It certainly doesn’t take a stretch of the imagination to know that this is incredibly stressful. Enough puns for one paragraph?
Wait, I have one more: Do not stress it out, stretch it out!
Okay, I am done, but seriously most of us are trying to focus on our mental and physical health and there are a ton of ways to do so whether your gym is open or not. Many turn to high intensity workouts to “burn off the stress”, which can sometimes lead to muscle strain and stress. Perhaps one additional way is to me a little gentle with your self and incorporate a good stretching routine into your life.
Stretching has a calming effect on your emotions and mind while it simultaneously relaxes the body promoting mental and physical relaxation. It reduces create body awareness and reduces muscular tension and soreness. A good stretch also produces chemicals that lubricate connective tissue and joints. This in turn helps support your overall fitness and greatly reduces your chance for injury.
Here are our top ten benefits of stretching:
- Amazing stress reliever!
- Calms your crazy overthinking mind
- Decreases headaches—especially those caused by tension
- Helps to prevent back pain and even help to heal an existing injury
- Increases blood flow to those tight, clenched muscles
- Improves your posture—do not slouch!
- Increases flexibility
- Increases range of motion
- Improves physical performance
- Ultimately it just feels good
Not sure how to get started—we’ve got your covered! While we love stretching, we didn’t write the book on it, but Dr. Christopher Oswald and Dr. Stanley Basco did when they published Stretching for Fitness Health and Performance: The Complete Handbook for All Ages and Fitness Levels.
Between your home office and homeschooling, you might not have the time to read an entire book. Explore Health provides you with a handy list of 15 Stretches You Should Do Every Day. Self Magazine also got into the game and upped the ante with The 21 Best Exercises for Better Flexibility. You can check those stretches off one by one, unlike your never-ending to-do list!
Still, thinking that it is a stretch of the imagination that it can reduce stress?? Just when you thought the puns were over—sorry I couldn’t help myself……
LabCorp through its corporate wellness newsletter tells us to Stretch Our Stress Away. One of Health Magazines Loves to Know columns also tells us how stretching releases stress.
Still just too overwhelmed to get your stretch on by yourself? No worries there! Stretch Relief provides an online class so that you can Get Stretched with A Live Trainer Right From Your Home! Don’t want that trainer seeing the chaos in the background of your home? Then grab your mask and head out to your nearest Stretch Zone for an assisted stretch sess!
However, you decide to incorporate stretching into your life, it is a great way to love yourself, limber up, and lose some stress!