Stretching your body first thing in the morning makes you more agile. Sometimes, you may stretch involuntarily, as your body understands that flexibility is vital to optimal health. Your body also understands that stretching helps release pain-reducing endorphins that aid proper circulation.
Therefore, allocating a few minutes to stretch daily can yield enormous benefits. In this article, we shall examine the purpose and benefits of stretching at different times of the day.
What Are the Benefits of Stretching
Some of the potential benefits of stretching include the following:
● Improved flexibility: Stretching helps to lengthen your body’s muscles and helps in achieving a more comprehensive range of motion.
● Better circulation: Stretching regularly also grants your body both short- and long-term benefits on your body’s circulatory health.
● Reduced risk of injuries: A greater range of motion helps reduce the likelihood of physical harm.
● Less back pain: Finally, stretching helps to prevent and ease back pain by strengthening your back muscles.
Stretching in the Morning
After a good night’s rest, we wake and subconsciously stretch our bodies, and this is known as pandiculation, and this behavioral pattern has been observed in most mammals. When you wake and stretch, you can modify the tension in your fascia.
The fascia is a connective tissue covering the body’s organs, muscles, and blood vessels. Therefore when you stretch, you keep your fascia flexible, oxygenated, and supple. Many examples of morning stretches include cat-cow, neck circles, etc.
Stretching During the Day
Further, you might experience stiff muscles, especially after sitting in a particular position for an extended period. Therefore, breaking such long periods with a few quick movements here and there can aid in reducing tension and discomfort in one’s muscles. There are many examples of stretches that you can do during the day, and these include the pigeon pose and the downward-facing dog.
Stretching Before Bed
Finally, getting in that stretch right before you head for bed can aid your body in relaxing, according to research. In a review of a slew of studies conducted, it was discovered that meditative movement is linked with high-quality sleep.
Stretching helps promote calm within the body by engaging your parasympathetic nervous system –the part of the nervous system responsible for the “rest and digest” function. Bedtime stretches include the child pose.
Conclusion
Stretching offers a lot of benefits to our bodies. It helps with our flexibility and range of motion, improves our circulation, and reduces pain.
