Pop Quiz: how many directions of movement are available in each of the joints? Easy Answer: more than one! Nearly every body part can move in circular fashion, and every body part can move in more than one direction. This is true even for your knee and elbow, both of which do have the ability to rotate a small amount. This has profound implications in how and why we stretch.
Stretching has been a regime of all ages of people for ever. One especially useful time to stretch is in the morning when you’re stiff from a good night’s rest (why that is paradoxically true – we’ll get into another time). For now and the purpose of waking up and getting your body feeling awesome for the whole day to come, we need more than vanilla stretching.
Yoga Tune Up® moves each body part and joint through every conceivable direction, prompting your body to become more alert, healthier and more adaptable than simple stretching alone. It’s like eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables instead of the same ones over and over. Variety always gives us more opportunity. Opportunity for what? To heal, change, reduce pain and prepare for challenges and bigger opportunities.
You can wake up faster with more alertness than coffee offers when you move your joints and body with awareness. Any of the Yoga Tune Up® Quick Fix videos will accomplish this for you in just five minutes. If you had only five minutes in your morning to set your day up for radical success, then start with hips. Hips are your center and your base for sitting. Start out with quickly tuning up those hips and your spine, neck and arms will thank you.
Use it or lose it…I always hated stretching because it hurts! Naturally I have never been very flexible. Now I’m afraid that I’ll lose it all together if I don’t use it….Can I increase flexibility extensively after 20 something years of not stretching? (I saww elderly people at a Nursing Home that didnt have the flexibility in spine to be able to even clean themselves after doing their business in the bathroom. I cried)
Wonderful advice. I’ve always started off my day with a basic 20 minute routine which includes hip openers and work on my legs, especially the hamstrings. I’ll have to read your blog on why waking up to a good nites rest often one is stiff.
so true…I always think about moving my joints laterally or through the sagittal plane, but not often do I rotate them all!
This is great advice! I tend to just focus on the simple stretch in the mornings which I don’t do every morning either. We just finished our Teacher Training on Anatomy with Maura this past weekend and with the information she taught us and advice from this article on stretching our hip joints made me realize how important it is to stretch every morning (considering I had knee surgery and am very active). I learned that the femur which is proximal with hip connects to my knee joint and doing some type of 5-minute directional of movement (adduction, abduction, etc) with my hips will help reduce pain and strenthen my knee joints. Thank you for sharing!
It is amazing that so many people know they should stretch, want to stretch, but just never get around to it unless they come to an exercise class or see their trainer. Some days people walk in so tight and immobile my pilates class quickly becomes a stretching-only class. NO longer will I feel guilty that I’m not giving my clients a good workout!
I love your voice! Vanilla stretching is a perfect way to describe the general publics view. Stretching is more than what they taught you in high school gym class. It’s amazing to find out these simple exercises can change your bodies shape and how you feel and move during the day. Down with morning coffee – it just causes a crash later – Yoga Tune Up keeps you awake and aware ALL DAY LONG!
Great 5-minute advice. Thanks, Alex!
Thank you, Alex for the great advice! So simple, yet so hard for some to find the time. It really makes a huge difference for me, when I get my body moving in the morning.
A five minute quick fix with YTU really is better than coffee. Thanks Alex!
Well Alex,this is truly awesome and such a down-to-earth advice.As I am hearing this week in my training,we are all broken and we all have injuries-there is noone who is completely ’sorted’.What is truly unique about YTU that it looks at the body as a whole system of living,breathing tissue that is designed to function well.This YTU stuff is so very cool and it invites us to truly study ourselves and the landscapes of our bodies very deeply.
I had always heard it is not a good idea to stretch unless you’re warm, and that it’s better to stretch after a workout. But I can see how the Yoga Tune Up exercises ease the body from stiffness to mobility without taxing the body. Today’s Yoga Tune Up lesson was valuable — I look forward to trying these exercises in the morning.
I love this:
“Your body is 98 degrees. It’s already warm”
While it’s a bit tongue in cheek, it is SO empowering to know that we have options at any stage in our training. There’s much benefit to be received whether your a little warm or totally hot.
It’s so liberating to think about moving beyond classical forms to access the entire range of movement available to our joints. I see how my long-time, daily practice of a set series of movements has led to major mobility in certain areas and blind spots in other ones–hips are a biggie for me so thanks for the advice!
hmm definitely something to ponder. I suppose it’s ok for our all of our joints to move in other ways as long as it isn’t beyodn the “proper” range of motion and there is no pain. I hadn’t thought about this, but maintaining the stability and strength in loose joints while increasing range of movement will help with all different body and joint types. All bringing more circulation and blood flow to the area. Thanks!
Alex,
It is amazing how all the body parts effect others as well.
Choosing to loosen the hips in the morning is a great idea, especially if you are short on time. Loosening the hips will also help us get into the lower back, which can be very cranky in the morning.
One amazing thing that I learned is that also awakening the sole of our foot in every direction with the YTU balls will not only stretch the facia in that area but will transfer to the facia up the back of our body.
Try doing a forward fold, assess.
Then roll the bottom of your feet.
Re-assess and your forward fold will be deeper – MAGIC!!
OMG so true, when I am rushed in the morning and do not take time for myself, at the end of the day and even mid day, I feel sluggish, and my joints are not happy with me, I feel tight everywhere… And the reverse happens when I wake up to Yoga Tune Up or Yoga – it is like I have just been pumped with oxigen and everything is highly functional!
From Muay thai kickboxing to Capoeira to BellyDancing….I agree with you and Yoag tune Up offers an ideal variety to throw into my yoga practice. May the movement be with you!
“It’s like eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables instead of the same ones over and over.” I love this statement Alex! One of the keys to success in healing the body and achieving physical balance and body/mind awareness is incorporating various movements and movement patterns into the system. It’s seeing the big picture. I love your way of comparing it to nutrition because we can all understand it on this level as we must all eat and hopefully eat mindfully. Movement is indeed food for the body!