The Importance of Stretching

Last month I wrote about the many benefits of a 30-60 minute daily walk. It has helped me lose that extra weight gained from taking steroids (yuck) and lately I’ve been incorporated some of my favorite yoga stretches about halfway through my walk. If you didn’t get a chance to read the post about the health benefits to walking you can read it here.

Stretching every day with some easy yoga poses will help you in so many ways! It can help improve flexibility, and, consequently, range of motion in your joints. Better flexibility may improve your performance in physical activities or decrease your risk of injuries by helping your joints move through their full range of motion and enabling your muscles to work most effectively. (Source: Mayo Clinic).

According to stretching experts, Jacques Gauthier & Dorothee Lavoie, some of the benefits of stretching include:

relief from pain
increased energy levels
increased flexibility
better range of motion of the joints
greater circulation of blood to various parts of the body
relaxation and stress relief
enhanced muscular coordination
improved posture
greater sense of well-being

Below are some of my favorite stretches. Be sure to take it easy at the beginning and think more about working into the stretch as opposed to whether you can touch your toes or if your feet go flat on the ground when you do Downward Facing Dog right from the beginning. Over time, you will find you can touch your toes fairly easily. And be sure to think about your breathe. Are you holding your breath? Part of why I love yoga so much is that it helps you to remember to breathe and deeply. You can see my dog likes it when I take a break during our walks! Images courtesy of Very Well.