Posts Tagged ‘stretching’
Posted by terrepruitt on August 19, 2024
So, hopefully you are stretching every day. And you understand it doesn’t have to interrupt your day. You can stretch during your daily routine. If you like stretching and you make the time to do it separately from your daily habits, that is great. I am all for that, but I know that people are so busy so I am just trying to encourage people to stretch EVERY DAY and give you ideas (or reminders) on how to do it.
Here is a squat. As you can see I am brushing my teeth while squatting. Ok, maybe you can’t actually see because these stretch pictures I have been posting are blurring, but that is ok with me, I am just trying to give you ideas and remind you that you can stretch EVERY DAY!
As always with my STRETCH EVERY DAY reminders I am not describing HOW to do the stretch, but I have already done a couple of posts on squatting so you can look back at those if you would like. What would be really cool, is if you read them while squatting. 🙂
Get Down On It
Squatting Does A Body Good
Garland Or Malasana Or Squat
So, are you still stretching?
Posted in stretching | Tagged: daily stretch, deep squat, every day stretch, garland, Malasana, squat, stretch every day, stretching, stretching while doing | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on July 1, 2024
Here is another stretch you can do every day. I am just throwing these out here because, as I mentioned previously, people are ALWAYS telling me they need to stretch more. But I think they think they need to make time to stretch and while I think they do, taking time out of your day to stretch is great, I think stretching EVERY DAY is more important. Stretching is like sleeping, you can’t do it all at once . . . it is something that our body needs daily. So . . . these posts are just quick reminders. They are NOT detailed instructions, they don’t have a lot of notes on variations, they are not addressing injuries and limitations, so remember to do what your body can do. I am just trying to point out that you can stretch EVERY DAY!
This one is another floor stretch and can be done while putting on lotion, brushing your teeth, chatting on the phone, or watching TV, etc.
A stretch is most effective when done for at least 30 seconds. So you don’t even had to sit in it for that long.
This one has a lot of names (as most stretches do) I am going to call it Butterfly. Sit tall and put the soles of your feet together. Let your knees fall out. Bring your feet as close to your middle as you like.
As an example, I am brushing my teeth.
See, easy-peasey. C’mon, this is so simple you can do it every day. The thing is, it may NOT actually be easy for some because of stiffness or limitations. Be gentle and do what you can. But do it every day!
Now you have four stretches you can easily add to your routine EVERY DAY! You don’t even have to do all three every day, but do at least one EVERY DAY!
Calf Stretch
Standing Forward Fold
Seated Wide Angle Stretch Over Leg
and this one (Butterfly)
Edit (03.12.25): More information about this stretch(/asana) can be found at Butterfly, Baddha Konasana, Bound Angle
Posted in Misc, stretching | Tagged: 30 seconds, brushing teeth, butterfly, every day stretch, stretch every day, stretching | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 3, 2024
Sometimes life is strange. You know when you are thinking about a friend and they call. Or you think about having BBQ for dinner and your spouse says, “Hey, I feel like BBQ.” Or you are thinking that you want to do a blog post about stretching every day and that same day one of your students says, “I need to stretch more.”
Don’t-want-to-read-it-all summary:
—Need to stretch every day
—You can do it while you brush your teeth or scroll on the phone
—Stretching may be uncomfortable, but NOT painful
—First stretch: calf stretch (see * below), do both sides
I stretch every day. I think it is very important. Modern society is primarily set up so that we sit a lot and we have our bodies in a set position for a long time so things (muscles, tendons, ligaments, etc.) can get tight and short. We need to stretch every day. Most people will agree but then say they don’t have time. Not having time is a very valid reason, but not a good one. I think that stretching every day for a few minutes is better than stretching for a long time every so often.
There are many stretches that can be done WHILE doing something else. And by “something else” I mean, brushing your teeth, talking on the phone, texting, watching TV, putting on lotion, something you do EVERY DAY. You can incorporate a stretch or two into your everyday routine.
If you think to yourself, “I can’t stretch because I am too tight.” Stop. A stretch is a stretch. If you can’t touch your toes, but you try you are getting a stretch, the point of stretching ISN’T to touch your toes, it is to stretch your body. There could be any number of reason why you may NEVER be able to touch your toes but since that is not the goal, it doesn’t matter. The goal is to stretch.
As a reminder stretching may be uncomfortable, but not painful. Know the difference. It is like a whine compared to an EXCLAMATION (OW!).
We are going to start with a super simple one. Simple may not mean easy for you, but in this case it means you don’t have to get down and then up. You can do it while you are brushing your teeth. I am going to go with the idea that teeth brushing is something done every day so this stretch can be done every day.
This is a simple calf stretch. *You take a step back keeping the back leg straight with the toes facing the same way as your hips, chest, and shoulders. Bend into the front leg’s knee. Keep your stance wide enough – at least shoulder width – apart so you have balance. Press the heel of the back leg into the ground, straighten that leg as much as you can and hopefully you will sense the stretch in your calf. You may not be stepping FAR back and that is fine, just step far enough that you can sense the stretch in your calf of that back leg. You can brush the same side of your teeth as the back leg and when you are ready to switch, you can switch. You can do this at least once a day!
Posted in Misc, stretching | Tagged: brushing teeth, calf stretch, every day stretch, life is strange, stretching, stretching every day, tight muscles, touching toes | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on August 28, 2023
Here is another inner thigh stretch. This one is on one knee somewhat like the “Half Kneeling Inner Thigh Stretch” but one leg is straight.
Instructions:
-Kneel on the floor on all fours. Straighten one leg out to the side. So hips are squared to front.
-Move hips back (towards foot) and forth.
You will feel the stretch in the inner thigh of the straight leg.
Options and additional information:
-The “back” foot, the one with the bent knee, can be top-of-foot to floor or you can have your toes curled.
-The foot of the straight leg, can be flat on the floor or you can be on the inner edge of your foot.
-The foot of the straight leg, can have toes pointed to the front, out at an angle, or out to the side.
-You can just sit your hips back and not move them.
See what works best for you and what gives you the stretch you need.
As I said in the other inner thigh stretch post, there are many different ways to stretch a muscle.
If you keep your toes curled (on the kneeling leg) you will be getting a foot stretch like in our Toe Squat.
How is it going – your stretching? Are you able to get a couple in a day?
Posted in stretching | Tagged: curled toes, Inner Thigh Stretch, kneeling, Straight Leg, Straight Leg Inner Thigh Stretch, stretching | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on July 3, 2023
I would wager that most of you reading this know that stretching is very beneficial. Daily stretching can do wonders for comfortable movement. Stretching does not have to be a time consuming thing. I may agree that longer sessions of stretching might be more beneficial than shorter ones, but a quick stretch is better than nothing. Also, if done daily a 5 minute stretch session could really help.
And when I say “help” I mean help with moving throughout life more comfortably. Of course, there are many people that have many issues that could be exacerbated by some moves so please keep in mind that I am not giving medical advice and that you need to keep your own body’s situation in mind.
With all of that said here is a great stretch that can reach multiple areas.
Here are quick instructions with * adding more.
-Kneel down and bring one leg out in front, whole foot on the ground.* (Half kneeling.)
-Keep the hip of the “down leg” in alignment above the knee. Activate the glutes by tightening or pushing forward a bit.** Add an “additional” stretch by lifting the arm and bending to the side of the front leg.***
-Remember to lengthen the spine and keep the “up” arm shoulder relaxed.
*Stability can be obtained by moving the front leg away from the midline of the body, by turning the foot of the front leg in, or by pulling the front leg’s knee in toward the body. Also one could use a block, furniture, or a wall to stabilize.
The foot of the “down” knee can be flat (top of foot on the floor) or with toes “curled”.
**The stretch is happening in the front of the body of the kneeling leg. I say “front” of the body because it is not just in the leg, but also it is not really the “front” of the body it more of an internal stretch through the psoas.
***When you lift the arm the stretch also goes through the side of the body.
It targets multiple areas that can really benefit from being flexible. The main area being stretched is the psoas, hip flexors, the side body, and the ankle. If you curl the toes (of the down leg) then you would be stretching through the bottom of the foot (like in a toe squat).
We do this often in my classes. Do you stretch?
Posted in Misc, stretching | Tagged: half kneeling, psoas stretch, side body stretch, stretching, toe squat | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on January 3, 2022
Since I did complete the daily tracker I wanted to show it off. I did post when December started, but here it is . . . I managed to do some type of movement everyday. I have a schedule so it makes it kinda easy to make sure I get it in. I have found that stretching every day is awesome. I used to stretch once a week in addition to yoga, but yoga is not stretching and dedicated stretching is a great way to keep moving without aches and pains. And the key is EVERY DAY.
My calendar was not for 30 minutes of stretching it was for 30 minutes of movement, but I can honestly tell you that there was at least 10 minutes of stretching done every day. You may want to try it for yourself.
I have seen some GORGEOUS trackers out there. Are you doing one this year? You can find it here by clicking, if you want.
Posted in Misc | Tagged: calendar, Colorful Daily Tracker, colorful daily tracking, coloring, daily tracker, stretching, track what you want, Yoga | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on August 2, 2021
So how are you doing on the daily calendar/tracker? Do you remember it? I have it in a place where I see it so I remember it, but I have to be honest, I did have to stop and fill in a few days at a time. I do my daily thing, but I don’t always fill out the log daily. The way I color the log changed. In my first post I made a key with colors assigned to a specific movement, I figured I would change the color assignments every month (so I could use all of the pens), but it ended up primarily just one color . . . which would tend to make sense if you were doing one specific thing daily. But I had made my log for 30 minutes of movement and changed in February to just use a color for meeting that goal. Also in February I added indoor cycling to my menu of movement. So my 30 minutes could be a combination of yoga, Nia, stretching, cycling, and/or walking.
I am still using the set of pens I received at Christmas and so far sticking with a type of pen per month. January was glitter, a majority of the glitter gets rubbed off, but when I look closely I can still see it. February was metal. March pastel. April was florescent. May was regular. There are only five different types so I reused metal for June and pastel for July. I am using glitter for August, but I think I am going to use dots and stripes for the LONG/larger days . . . we will see how that goes.
Anyway . . . hard to believe we are past the halfway point in the year.
So . . . do you have a daily practice? Do you have a calendar/journal/log that you use to keep track?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: calendar, Colorful Daily Tracker, colorful months, colorful tracker, Cycling, daily log, Daily practice, daily tracker, Nia, spinning, stretching, tracking daily, Yoga | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 10, 2016
I am just going to put this out there. I have this on my website, but not everyone goes there and someone might see it here and . . . well, why not, right? I could be teaching a class at a time when you want to take a class. You could be somewhat curious about Nia, but maybe haven’t gotten around to clicking on my website to see my schedule. It could be on your list of things to do. Maybe you are looking for a yoga class. I teach Nia three times a week. I teach yoga twice a week. I just started teaching a stretch class but we are taking an eight week hiatus (until August 11, 2016) during the busy summer months because the community center doesn’t have the room for us. They have so many summer programs for kids, it is crazy (good). I am subbing a gentle yoga class for three weeks at Mind Body Zone. And I have one Sunday Nia class rotation at the NW YMCA this month.
Nia is a cardio dance . . . meaning it is an aerobic workout. It is low impact, meaning we don’t jump high and land hard, but it can be INTENSE. You control that part. If you get low and reach high and move a lot you will get a big workout, if you don’t get down and keep your movements small then you will get a smaller workout. You get to decide what type of workout you want when you attend class. The music is varied from a little bit of Pop, with some Jazz, all the way to Rock. It is a place you can go to get some “me” time and have fun.
Since there really is no standard definition of gentle yoga you might not know what you are getting when you go to a yoga class. So you might want to know that I make yoga gentle by not holding the poses for a long time or flowing through poses. We do a pose at least two times so that we can tryout the modifications. If you know a pose we are doing and you want to get right into it right away, that is fine. We general do a few poses either standing or on the floor then we switch. It is an important thing to be able to get down on the floor and get up again. So we make that part of the routine. “Gentle yoga” does not mean beginner, it means that we do yoga gently.
In stretch we just work our way down the body. We stretch from head to toe. We hold the stretch from 20 to 30/40 seconds. We do standing, sitting, supine/reclined (on the back), and even some prone (on the belly) poses. Sometimes we use straps. Everyone is encouraged to stretch honoring their own body.
Perhaps you see a class that interests you?
Posted in Nia, Yoga/PiYo/Pilates | Tagged: Classes in San Jose, gentle yoga, Nia, Nia class, stretching, www.HelpYouWell.com, Yoga, Yoga class | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on May 24, 2012
Just a few posts ago I talked about simple stretches that could possibly bring relief to tight hip flexors and lower back pain. I referred to a yoga pose called the pigeon pose. This pose is where one leg is stretched out to the back and the front of the leg (the front of the thigh, the knee, the shin, and the top of the foot and toes) are on the ground, touching the ground, and the other leg is bent at the knee with foot towards the body, but the shin at a right angle to the body. The hand can hold the foot. The back is long and straight and upright. There are variations. Some are where the leg is bent more and the foot is more pointed toward the opposite hip. In some the back is still long and straight, but the body is lying over the bent leg.
In Nia the variation is called a Side Yawn. The leg is bent so the foot is near the opposite hip, as I mentioned above. The arm on the side of the bent leg is bent while the arm on the side of the outstretched leg is straight with palm on the floor. As the body lowers to the earth over the bent leg the outstretched arm moves on the ground reaching out further. Allow the entire body to sink into a comfortable fold. The lengthened side of the body yawns open.
For the more athletic version there is more weight on the bent leg and instead of just stretching out over the bent leg there are push-ups involved. Pushing away from the earth and sinking slowly back into it. After a few push-ups then allow your body to release to gravity and lay over the bent leg.
This is one of the moves that I mentioned were in the back of The Nia Technique Book. Both the classic version and the athletic version of this move open and release the hips. With the classic as you sink to the floor the side of the body is receiving a long stretch. The athletic version enables strengthen of the arms and core. This move is one where you would do as many repetitions as you would like and then switch to the other side. Or you could do one side then switch and do the other side. The point it to be sure that you do both sides. I would bet, as with most of us, one side is more flexible than the other.
In the Nia routines I do we are often in the pigeon pose or the side yawn pose, but we do not always sink into the yawn. Often we are dancing with our hands on the floor, not necessarily doing straight up and down push-ups, but using our arms to lower us to the earth and push-off again. As with all moves each individual is invited to do what is best for their body at that moment in the Nia class. So some might sink into the yawn. So usually in addition to stretching our hips we are using our core and our arms in our cool down or floorplay.
Do you ever sense your hips are tight and need stretching? Might you think to use this stretch to loosen up?
Posted in Nia, Yoga/PiYo/Pilates | Tagged: Athletic Nia, classic Nia, cool down, flexible, floorplay, Hip flexors, lower back pain, Nia, Nia class, Nia pose, Nia routines, Pigeon pose, side yawn, simples stretches, stretching, The Nia Technique book, tight hips, yawn the body, Yoga, Yoga Pose | 2 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on June 6, 2009
Even though the Adho Mukha Svanasana or in more familiar language, Downward-Facing Dog is often used as a resting pose or a transitional pose, you are working a lot of your body. It is a great pose for working your legs, back, shoulders and arms. More specifically your gastrocnemius (calves), hamstrings, retucs femoris (front of leg), gluteus maximus, latissimus dorsi, serratus anterior (muscles by the ribs), deltoids, and triceps.
As with a lot of yoga asanas the “working” is either a lengthening and stretching or a strengthening or both. This asana also helps strengthen the hands.
Recently I took a yoga class in Los Gatos and I am looking forward to going back because I realized something, I don’t like this pose that much. But what I have come to accept in my exercise workouts and Nia practice, is that if I don’t like something it is usually because I am not doing it correctly or it is something in which I need to improve. So the reason I am looking forward to my next class is because I hope to ask the instructor for a body check. If not in my next class I will ask the instructor in Willow Glen. I want an instructor to assist me in making sure I am doing it correctly. Then once I feel the correct way to do it, I will work on it.
So, as you can see I am taking this Down Dog thing seriously. Just because it is thrown in as a way to get to the next move and sometimes treated like a rest, I still want to use it to help strengthen my back, shoulders, and arms. I want to work at it to make sure I am getting the full benefit of the lengthening of my legs and arms, and the stretching of back. Do you work your Downward-Facing Dog or just let it lie?
Posted in Yoga/PiYo/Pilates | Tagged: Adho Mukha Svanasana, asana, Down Dog, Downward-Facing Dog, lengthen, Los Gatos Exercise, Los Gatos Nia, Los Gatos Workout, Los Gatos Yoga, strengthen, stretching, Willow Glen Exercise, Willow Glen Nia, Willow Glen Workout, Willow Glen Yoga, Yoga Pose | 4 Comments »
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