The Perfect End To Your Day?

You may go to bed feeling fine—sometimes even relaxed—yet wake up stiff, sore, or achy, particularly in the lower back. At first glance, it doesn't seem logical, and hard to believe that the culprit may not be your age, your matress, or the fact that you might have "slept wrong".

In reality, the issue often begins before you fall asleep.

Lets think about that for a moment.

The activity doesn't matter. You may be reading, knitting, watching a movie, working on the computer, etc. What matters is where you are when you are engaging in these activities.

Sitting in bed,

Sitting in a chair,

Sitting on the couch,

Sitting at your desk, dining room table, etc.

I don't know about you, but when I'm engrossed in a movie or a book, I usually don't notice the exact moment when the discomfort manifests itself. If I do start feeling my muscles tighten, or starting to ache, I change positions, get up, walk around. The problem though is, that oftentimes we don't feel the discomfort at night. We wake up with it.

Personally, my last activity before I go to bed is usually tiding up the kitchen. Over the years, I've figured out, that my body feels better in the morning when I move a little before I go to bed. Any time I change my routine and first tidy up the kitchen, than sit at my desk catching up, ...oy....I wake up feeling my muscles, or joints, or both :)

The worst for me is sitting on the couch for a long while before bedtime. Then, it's not only my lower back that doesn't like this position, but I can wake up with a tight and achy upper back, and neck the next morning.

I try really hard not to do that any more:)

If you can relate to any of what I am describing, I hope you will try to change your evening routine, experiment, and see if your mornings improve.

Here are some of my favorite stretches that I do, before I fall asleep, or first thing when I wake up.

First up is one I call the Knee Leaning Stretch or sometimes the "Leaning Tower of Pisa" 😁 😅
This is a perfect stretch for when you wake up and want to take your time to ease in to the morning. Sometimes issues of the lower back can present themselves as pain or tightness on the right or left side of the pelvis, between the upper thigh and glute muscle, and above. You can decrease this discomfort by letting your knee on the affected side "lean" towards the opposite knee. Follow along with the video and Remember... try to really hold the stretch for at least 30 seconds to allow gravity to help release that muscle tightness. Repeat if necessary.

This one is a stretch for your hip flexors. Depending on the range of motion that you have in your hip joints, you can try stretching the hip flexors by placing your foot under the opposite thigh, against it, or on top of it. Try all of the variations to find out which is right for you.

This one doesn't need much explanation. When you upper back, shoulders or neck are stiff or achy, a stretch like this can be very effective.

And this one is an oldie but goodie. I recorded it in 2017, when I didn't own a microphone or a camera stand, ( hence poor audio). The content though is timeless. :) I hope you will follow along.

To Your Health :)

Joanna