morning stretch: plunge into the sublime seas

tips for tuesday 
notes from maggie's farm

Let's not make any bones about it.  I am not a morning person.

Oh yes, farmers are all supposed to be morning people, rising before dawn at the rooster's crow, and skipping along, happily through the morning chores.

Stretching 101: The Benefits of Stretching

Well, good for them.  I am not one of those farmers.  I am a city-bred farmer.  I trained my last rooster to crow around ten-ish.  It was all "COCK-A-DOO-oh?-you've heard this already?".  

Stretching is the deliberate lengthening of muscles in order to increase muscle flexibility and joint range of motion. Stretching activities are an important part of any exercise or rehabilitation program. They help warm the body up prior to activity thus decreasing the risk of injury as well as muscle soreness.

But, try as I might, I can't make the sun stay below the horizon.  And getting those chores done in the early cool of the day is a might easier than it is when the sun beats down.  And there's the matter of the writing.  I enjoy writing most when the day is new, and busy has not made it's stamp upon it.  

The benefits of stretching are many and have been proven through various studies over time. Stretching benefits people of all ages, and is intended for the young as well as the elderly population.

So.......I like to move into the day slowwwwwly.  When I am away, and my routine is all out of whack, all bets are off.  Moving into the day slowwwwwwly may mean I've finally fallen asleep around 4am, and I'm not getting up until late morning.  I've always had 'issues'.  But when I'm at home, and back in my element, I have a routine that suits me well.  Up early, my bones and muscles all creaky like those of us a certain age are familiar with, I enjoy a series of stretches, much like these, before I even make it out of bed. 

Morning Bedside Stretch

Then off to the kitchen to put on water for tea, or coffee, which gives me just enough time to roll through a few rounds of sun salutations.  

Sun Salutation Practice: Yoga Journal

Even just a few stretches like these, while not intended as a full workout, have the effect of a double dose of ibuprofen, and help center me for a busy day.  And, frankly, exercise is about as attractive to me as mornings, so I'll likely get my workout in in the gardens, and with the animals.  I'll let your conscious decide how to fit exercise into the rest of your day.  But, this, this one thing, makes such a difference in my day, I'm often motivated to do all kinds of things I'd usually avoid.  

Like more exercise.  Or cleaning my husband's bathroom.  Okay, maybe I'll exercise.

“Be not the slave of your own past ... plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep, and swim far, so you shall come back with self-respect, with new power, with an advanced experience, that shall explain and overlook the old.”  Ralph Waldo Emerson