As a reminder from last week's post, Movement Matters, incorporating movement as a daily habit is very important to take on our everyday challenges we are facing in the world. Our mindset starts right when we wake and decide on our day.
How can you start your day with a positive mindset?
Start with movement.
Your movement begins the moment you open your eyes in the morning. You must respond to that alarm or in my case,a kid peeling your eyes open asking you to go downstairs.
How do you rise out of bed?
I know, it is such a natural reaction you probably never thought of it. So let me ask you this. How does your body feel, when you are out of bed and start moving?
Does your back ache?
Do your hips feel tight?
Do your knees hurt?
How does that affect your mindset for the rest of the day?
Your first movement of the day can dictate your mindset and how your body will feel the rest of your day. If you tend to go from laying on your back to coming into a sitting position by rounding your back to pull your chest up and then rotating your body to get out of the bed you are putting a ton of strain on your back. Your body had just been relaxed and asleep for hours and can’t take the abrupt movement. Your mind may be easy to jump right up, but your body certainly needs to take time and be mindful of movement. You can do that by changing the way you move your body to get out of bed. For example try rolling to your side,pushing your body up while swinging your legs around to the side of the bed. This move avoids strain and pressure on your spine and the muscles supporting it.
How different will your day be if your back didn’t ache the moment you took your first step out of bed?
Keep that good morning going by adding in a morning movement routine.
You wouldn’t go from sitting in a chair for four hours to jumping right into the middle of your workout, would you?
Treat this the same way. Prime your body for the movement it is going to experience throughout the day to loosen your hips, shoulders and relieve your back and knees.
To get you moving each morning here is a great circuit we call Spine Hygiene.
Complete the following exercises for 10 reps
Finish with a 3 directional hip flexor stretch
If your tired of starting your day off with an achy back and tight hips, then #getmoving first thing in the morning.
Remember you wouldn’t skip your warm-up before your training session…
So don’t skip your morning movement warm-up!
Make every morning GREAT so each day can be even GREATER!
Eat well, move often, BE GRATEFUL! And do it repeatedly.
Laura Wilkerson & Edge Fitness