Solution: Stretch your stresses away. Hold each stretch for at least 30 seconds. Work your way up to a 1 minute hold. Remember to breath deeply into the stretch, inhaling in through the nose and out through the mouth. I tell my students to let gravity do its thing here and fully give into the earth and relax into the stretch.

Stretch 1: Happy Baby Pose – keeping your sacrum on the floor, grab hands on outside edge of feet and separate the shins. Amazing to release the lower spine, hips, and any compression in the spine.

Stretch 2: Figure 4 Stretch – Place your right foot over your left knee, thread the arms through and hold onto your left knee, keeping the back of your neck on the floor, not letting your chin push forward. Repeat other side. Amazing for releasing the outer hip and lower back.

Stretch 3: Bow Pose – Start on your stomach, grab your ankles, and kick your feet back while still holding onto your ankles. Remember to breath in this pose! This will open your chest, sternum and shoulders and reverse the endless amounts of sitting and slouching.

Stretch 4: Ragdoll Stretch – Start standing with feet hip distance apart, arms by your sides. Tuck your chin into your chest, and slowly make your way all the way down into a forward fold so that your head is below your hips, but your legs are still straight and feet are firmly pressing into the ground. Hands grab opposite elbows, and you just hang. You can shake your head yes and no to get even more release in the neck. Breath and relax the shoulders. Amazing for releasing hamstrings, lower back, and neck.

Solution: Do my simple 30 minute workout that is just as good.

Minute 1: Warm Up – 1 minute jumping jacks

Minute 2-5: 1 minute plank, twice through, with 30 seconds rest in between

Minute 6-10: 1 minute Oblique Twists, twice through, with 30 seconds rest in between — lye on your back, reach elbow to knee and twist to other side. Works obliques.

Minute 11-15: 1 minute Lower Abs, twice through, with 30 seconds rest in between — lye on back, grab onto the bottom of your couch or bed, keep torso sturdy with sacrum on the floor the entire time, lower and lift the legs with straight legs (or with bent knees if needed). Use lower belly to lower and lift the legs.

Minute 16: Cardio Burst – 1 minute pretend jump rope

Minute 17: Rest

Minute 18: 1 minute tricep push ups – on the floor, or off a chair

Minute 19: Rest

Minute 20: Tricep Push Ups – keeping elbows squeezing into the midline of the body, and make sure that when you come down into your pushup, your elbow is creating a 90 degree angle with your forearm. Can do this on your knees or toes.

Minute 21: Rest

Minute 22: Chest Push Ups – on your knees or on your toes, hands are wide, and elbows are wide.

Minute 23: Rest

Minute 24: Cardio Burst – 1 minute running in place. Can challenge yourself by doing high knees!

Minute 25: 1 minute clam right side – lye down on your left side, on your left elbow, with knees slightly bent. Keep toes together on the floor, open and close the knee. Works the outer glute and hip.

Minute 26: 1 minute Butt press right side- starting on all 4s on hand and knees, keep belly in, lift right heel up to the ceiling, keeping knee in 90 degree angle, using your glutes to lift. Keep knee at hip height, and lift knee and thigh above hip.

Minute 27: 1 minute clam left side

Minute 28: 1 minute Butt press left side

Minute 29: 1 minute jumping jacks

Minute 30: Cool down with your favorite stretch 🙂

 

I am so excited to announce that I am a new brand ambassador for Intelliskin, the posture enhancing performance gear I’m wearing in the photos.

I am so personally passionate about this brand because it’s performance gear with a purpose for improving posture awareness. Our posture has a direct correlation with how we view ourselves, and ultimately how we let others vies us. If you don’t feel good about yourself, you are more than likely going to be slouching and hunched. If you are proud and feel energized, you probably will stand up taller. And some days are better than others, but whats so cool about this shirt is that there are trigger points in the shirt that remind your muscles to engage, pull back, lift up. So even on those days that you aren’t feeling you’re best, you can still wear your shirt and stand tall and proud. What’s even more magical, is that if you’re standing tall and proud, more than likely, your mind will start believing what your body is doing and you may even start feeling more confident about yourself 🙂