These are two muscle fascia stretches shown to me by my athletic therapist, Deanne.
In the first, lay on the floor and raise yourself into a shoulder stand.
Then tilt your legs over your head, keeping your knees straight until your toes touch the floor. Hold for 10 -15 seconds. I find this one especially useful for unkinking my neck and loosening all the muscles between my shoulder blades that don't enjoy sitting at the computer.
The second one can be done anywhere.
Tuck your chin against your chest.
And bend over slowly, vertebra by vertebra, until you touch the floor or your toes. Hold for 10-15 seconds.
Lift slowly, again vertebra by vertebra, arching your back and spreading your arms, pushing the stretch out through your middle fingers. (The first time I did this I felt a real 'zing' at the ends of my fingers).
Repeat as needed.
And bend over slowly, vertebra by vertebra, until you touch the floor or your toes. Hold for 10-15 seconds.
Lift slowly, again vertebra by vertebra, arching your back and spreading your arms, pushing the stretch out through your middle fingers. (The first time I did this I felt a real 'zing' at the ends of my fingers).
Repeat as needed.
For a deeper stretch place your feet on or against something so the plane of the bottom of your feet form a 45 degree angle. This really works the back of the legs.
1 comment:
These are yoga poses. The first is called "The Plough" and the second is "The Doll's Pose". If you like these you might enjoy a class in meditative yoga; it focuses on relaxing and stretching. I don't know the name of that kind, whether it's Hatha, Kripalu, etc. so you may need to do some askin' around.
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