If you can’t find time to go for a massage, you can stretch and make your back pop and rattle, whichever comes first. One or the other makes you feel good that you come away with a smile on your face. Stretching is not only for the elderly nor for athletes. Look at cats and dogs—they love to stretch even with very little sleep.
Reasons why stretching makes you feel good
The extent to which you’re stretching is a matter of endurance, with or without a masseuse. But the feeling you get is one of satisfaction—always. Why is that?
1. Increased blood flow. When you stretch it’s not only your muscles and ligaments that are straightened out. Your blood vessels are stretched, too, that’s why doing it results in easy blood circulation. Most times when you’re too busy you don’t realize that your muscles squeeze your veins. Stretching tenses your muscles so they free up your squeezed blood–and off it goes to your lungs and heart. They change places with oxygenated blood that makes you breathe better.
2. Your heart and lungs can work well. When you spread your arms and stretch, you “open out” your chest cavity, thus your heart works doubly well. This results in regulated blood flow around your body, up to the brain, already with oxygenated blood. With an expanded chest, your lungs and heart can pump more freely thus resulting in a more oxygenated blood getting into your bloodstream.
You notice that many people sleep in various “blood-choking” positions that discourage regulated blood flow. So when you wake up next day and stretch, your blood flow resumes to normal and you feel good.
Other Benefits of stretching
You can’t deny the over-all mood changing effects of body and muscle stretching. When you’re in a happy mood you can do wonders, and the world appears in rosy colors. In that mental state, any kind of disease, whether body or mind, is not even a remote possibility. Other than that, stretching helps:
1. Relaxation of tense and tired muscles. Stretching eases up the pressure of bones and ligaments on your muscles.
2. Balances body coordination. When your muscles are well-oiled you become agile and lithe.
3. Helps you avoid muscle injury. Stretching puts your muscles in place so there’s no way they will go haywire and pull at each other.
Tips in stretching
As a beginner you don’t go into the more challenging stretching positions right away. In fact, you’d do well to stretch within your means. Like all of forms of exercise, stretching requires that you begin with the basics.
1. Drink a lot of water. When your muscles are well-hydrated you can stretch easily. So you can move your body around very easily.
2. Stretch regularly. Your muscles benefit from constant “easy” pressures exerted on it by stretching.
3. Don’t compete with others. Especially if you’re just starting, stretch at your own leisure and “listen” to your muscles and bones. They’d tell you if you’ve reached your threshold.
4. When you feel like stretching, do it. As said earlier, frequent positive stress on your muscle gets them working really well, so they “crave” for it. When you have made stretching a part of your morning ritual, indulge in it.
For all intents and purposes, if you can stretch both body and mind, that should be ideal.
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