Five Effective Relaxation and Stretching Programs
Breathing deeply. Achieving calm and serenity. Loosening your tight muscles. It's rarely difficult to convince people to stretch because it just feels so good. And because it feels so good, lots of people think there's no physical benefit to stretching, but of course, that's not true. Each of these programs will end with you feeling calmer and more centered, with your mind and body connected, functioning as one.
Now, you can do these programs as often as you want and in any particular order. These routines won't stress your body in any way, so you don't need to rest or recover from them. All you need to do is enjoy.
Fifteen-minute Yoga Program
Just as there are a large number of yoga poses, or asanas, and variations on each of those poses, there are also an endless number of ways to put those postures together into sequences and routines. Like most yoga routines, this program focuses on connecting the breath with moves that will increase your flexibility in a slow, relaxing manner. This is a great routine for after work or before bed. Read it through a few times first so you can cover your eyes when necessary.
Mountain
Stand with feet pressed gently together, feeling all five toes and your heels on the floor. Pull your quadriceps up and away from your knees, contract your abs, and drop your shoulders down and back, away from your ears. This is Mountain pose. Now bring your palms up to cover your eyes and take three long, slow, deep breaths (inhale and exhale). When you feel centered, take your palms away from your eyes and lower your arms to your sides.
If, at any time, you feel yourself getting tense or self-conscious when you're practicing yoga, remind yourself to take a few breaths and focus on your slow inhale and exhale. This will help you relax both your mind and your body again.
Reed
Keeping your feet together and the rest of your body strong, raise your arms up, straight over your head, with your palms facing each other. Be sure to keep your shoulders down, not hunched up to your ears. Inhale and reach up with your torso, becoming longer. Then, on an exhale, reach your torso and arms to the right without leaning forward or back. Keep your feet planted and your abs contracted. Continue to breathe fully, allowing your body to move gently (like a reed in the wind) rather than trying to hold it still. On an inhale, come up to the start position and repeat to the left side. Come back to the start again. Lower your arms to your sides.
Forward Bend
On an inhale, bring your arms up and over your head, without hunching your shoulders up to your ears. Then on your exhale, roll forward, coming as far down as you can without pulling yourself down. Feel free to bend your knees a little. Bring your hands to your shins, feet, or to the floor next to you. Continue to breathe deeply for about five cycles (one inhale and exhale=one cycle). Your stretch will get deeper as you hold the pose.
Forward bends, like some other yoga stretches, are very extreme. This move stretches your hamstrings and lower back. Give yourself permission to relax into the posture rather than forcing yourself into it, as you don't want to pull a muscle. Always focus on your breath, not how far you can go. If you can't breathe deeply and slowly, you're pushing yourself.
Standing Arch
Place your hands on your shins, feet, or on the floor next to your feet, and begin to straighten your torso so that it forms a right angle to your legs, which are straightening (but your knees aren't locked). You should look like a triangle from the side. Pull your shoulders away from your ears as you continue to reach forward with your head and torso, and press your feet into the floor as you press your butt away from your head and lift your hips out of your thighs. This is a true feeling of reaching in all directions. Hold for a few breath cycles.
Standing arch
Transition
Come back down to forward bend. Then let your hands and arms come out to the sides as you begin to stand up, keeping your hips gently tucked under and your abs contracted. Come to Mountain pose. Then come to the floor on all fours (knees and hands on the floor).
Cat/Dog
Start with your hands, knees, and shins on the floor. Your hands should be directly under your shoulders, and your knees should be directly under your hips, with the tops of your feet against the floor. Allow your back to feel natural. Your eyes should be looking at the floor, slightly past your hands. Now, on an inhale, turn your face up, and drop your shoulders away from your ears as you tilt your butt up, letting your back sway. This should take a couple of seconds, and you should really feel your hips and lower back release. When you are ready to exhale, turn your hips in the opposite direction and look down, letting your back go into a slow arch, like a hissing cat. The difference between the two moves should be extreme, but you should flow from each move in a slow and controlled manner. Do this five or six times, with long, deep breaths, eventually returning to the neutral position.
Downward Facing Dog
Turn your toes under and begin to press evenly into your palms and toes as you lift your butt up and straighten your knees. Make your torso straight and long, as if you're moving through your arms as you straighten your legs and lift your hips. You should look like a very strong and straight inverted V. Try to press your heels to the floor, and press down evenly on all of your fingers as you lift your hips high. Let your neck be relaxed. Hold this for five breath cycles and, as you breathe, try to both relax and be stronger in this pose.
Downward facing dog
Child's Pose
Come down to your belly on the floor, with your arms outstretched above your head and your legs long. Put your hands on the floor under your shoulders and press back, bringing your butt toward your heels without rolling your torso up. Instead, keep your chest on your thighs. You can bring your arms to either side of your legs and let your torso spread across your thighs, or reach your arms forward along the floor to stretch your back long. Hold this pose for five breath cycles.
Locust Variations
Come back down to your belly, with your arms over your head and your legs flat. Put your face gently against the floor. (If this bothers you, put a folded towel between your forehead and the floor.) On an inhale, lift your arms and legs slightly off the floor. Don't try to go high, just go to a place that's comfortable. When you exhale, don't drop your limbs completely back to the floor; instead, let them fall a little, and then inhale again, lifting your limbs a little higher. Do this for five breath cycles, and let your body flow with the breath rather than trying to force your body to hold the position. Come down to the start.
Knee Squeeze
Roll onto your back and lie in a neutral position, keeping your shoulders away from your ears and your body relaxed. On an inhale, bring your right knee in toward your chest and hold your knee with both hands. Take five breaths in this position, bringing your knee in closer to your chest each time you inhale. On an exhale go back to the start position. Repeat the same with your left knee, then with both knees. Relax back to the start position.
Supported Relaxation
Get some bed pillows. Lie on your back, and put one pillow under your knees, one under your lower back, and one under your neck and head. If you want, you can also place a pillow under each of your hands and lower arms. Close your eyes and breathe deeply. Hold this position for as long as you like. Don't be surprised if you fall asleep.
10-minute Full-body stretch
This stretch will work any time, anywhere. You can do it after a workout, when you wake up, before you go to bed, or after a long car ride. Some of the moves are yoga-based, while others are athletic stretches. One move flows into the next.
Star
Stand with your legs wide apart, abdominals contracted and shoulders down. Open your arms out wide to the side, being sure to keep your butt under your hips. Reach out wide with your arms and legs, pressing your feet into the floor and stretching your fingers wide. Drop your chin slightly so that the back of your neck is long. Hold this for 20 to 30 seconds while you breathe deeply.
Twist
Keeping your legs and arms wide, begin to turn to your right without letting your butt sway or your shoulders rise. Stay strong in your core and let your head follow your torso so that you're looking to the right. Continue to reach through your fingers and press down into your feet. Hold for 20 to 30 seconds. Come back to center and repeat to the left. Come back to center.
Side Stretch
Bring your legs together and bring your arms up over your head, shoulders away from your ears (in other words, don't hunch up). Contract your abs and start to stretch through your right side, reaching through your right arm and fingers toward the ceiling and being sure to keep both feet balanced on the floor. Lean a little to the left to feel the stretch in your right side. Keep breathing. Hold this for 20 to 30 seconds. Come back to the start position and go to the left.
Neck Stretch
Stand with your feet together and your arms by your sides, with your abs contracted and your shoulders down and back. Drop your head forward gently without forcing your chin to your neck, and hold for 20 to 30 seconds. Then, bring your chin toward your right shoulder. Hold this for 20 to 30 seconds. Come back to the center, and bring your chin to the left. Hold for 20 to 30 seconds. Bring your head back to its natural position, keeping your shoulders down. Widen your eyes and move your facial muscles around for a few seconds, stretching your mouth, too.
Now, keeping your shoulders down and your face relaxed, turn your head to the right gently, without forcing the stretch, and hold for 20 to 30 seconds. Come back to center and repeat to the left.
Chest and Upper Back Stretch
Keeping your shoulders down and your arms long, clasp your hands in front of your body, pushing your arms away from your torso as you pull away with your back. You should feel this in your upper back. Hold for 20 to 30 seconds. Now bring your arms long behind you (clasp your hands if you can). Keeping your shoulders down, push away from your torso to feel the stretch in your chest. Hold for 20–30 seconds.
Pelvis Stretch
Bring your hands to your lower back, fingers facing down. Contract your abs gently, with your feet hip width apart and your shoulders away from your ears. Gently push your pelvis forward.
Full Breath Meditation
Sit on the floor with crossed legs. Roll a bit back so that you're sitting fully on your sitting bones. Your back should be relaxed but long (don't slouch), and your chin should be slightly down so the back of your neck is long. Put your hands on your knees or in your lap.
Inhale through your nose and be conscious of your breath as you bring it into your head, then follow your breath as it drifts down your throat and into your shoulders, arms, chest, and belly. Follow the breath into your hips and legs, all the way down to your feet.
When you exhale, let the breath out slowly, feeling your body get a little smaller without the air filling it. Inhale again, filling your body up the same way you did the first time. Keep repeating this pattern, trying to make the breaths slower and deeper as you go on.
Be very conscious of your breath throughout the meditation, which should take about five minutes. If an anxious thought comes into your consciousness, just let it pass by, and if you become conscious that you've latched on to a thought, then consciously let it go and return to being conscious of your breath.
Early-morning Stretch
Start this stretch in bed, and then move onto the floor. Lying on your back with a flat pillow under your neck and head, tilt your chin down. Now, bring your right knee to your chest gently, and hold it with both hands for about 20 seconds. Repeat with the left leg. Tilt your head to the left and hold for 20 seconds, then tilt to the right. Stretch your arms out to the sides, reaching away from your torso for 20 seconds. Then bring your arms up over your head without scrunching up your shoulders.
If you want, you can use this early-morning stretch time to remind yourself of your intentions or to offer a list of five things you're grateful for to help begin your day on a positive spiritual note, as well as a positive physical note. You might try reciting these things at the same time each day, joining them with your breath, almost like a ritual.
Sit up with your legs straight out in front of you, and gently clasp your hands in front of your chest, away from your body. Pull your arms away from your torso to stretch your back. Then reach your arms behind you, keeping your shoulders away from your ears, to stretch your chest.
Now, put your feet on the floor, and sit on the edge of your bed. Put your hands on your thighs or knees and bend from your waist to rest your upper body on your thighs. Let your head hang down, but do all of this gently, and don't try to force the stretch. Hold for 20 seconds. Unroll and stand up.
Inhale deeply and bring your arms up over your head, bending your knees. Then exhale, bringing your arms down and relaxing your knees. Do this three or four times.
Start your day!
At-the-office Stretch
This takes just a minute or two, but it will feel great. First, while sitting on a chair, put both feet on the floor, drop your shoulders away from your ears, and put your hands on your thighs. Take a few deep breaths, as slow as you can. Now, gently drop your head forward (don't force it) and hold for a few seconds. Now, roll your head to the right, chin toward your shoulder. Hold, roll your head back to center, and then roll your head to the left.
In a meeting? Tense? Bored? Without closing your eyes, start to focus on deepening the length of your inhales and exhales and, as you do this, focus on bringing your breath to each tense part of your body. This should relax you (on the exhale) and, at the same time, energize you (on the inhale).
Keeping your shoulders down, bring your arms in front of your chest, clasp your fingers, and reach your arms forward, stretching your back. Now stand up, put your hands on your lower back, and press your pelvis forward, leaning your upper body back. Bring your arms behind you and stretch your chest. If you can, bring one knee at a time up to your chest, then reverse that stretch and bring your heel to your butt, holding it with your hand. Go back to your day!
