Tired? Tense?

Many of my clients are feeling exhausted and are experiencing a great deal of excess tension in their bodies. Most people are needing more sleep and cannot tolerate nights of very little sleep as easily as they once could. We should not underestimate how intense the world is right now and it is not surprising that it is affecting us.

Here are a few things that seem to be working well.

1. Incorporate very gentle, light stretching for five or ten minutes two or three times a day into your routine. Just listen to your body and let yourself gently stretch out any muscles, tendons and ligaments that are too tight. This is incredibly important at this time. Do this with gentle movement, rather than trying to push yourself into a full stretch and hold it for an extended period of time. Dynamic stretching, or stretching with movement is better than static stretching or holding a stretch and prevents pain and injury.

2. Be sure to stretch, gently - just before bed and when you first wake up in the morning. Every animal does this naturally! Take a few moments to stretch before and after sleep.

3. This one seems like an overly simple idea, but for many people this is hard to do. Allow at least a half hour to wake up in the morning (and I don't mean three ten minute snooze alarm naps!). Once you are awake, take an additional half hour to really transition into the day. Wait until your body naturally feels like stretching itself, before you get up out of bed. This will help you to feel more alert and resilient throughout the day.

Remember tension in your body is the foothold of all disease and physical deterioration. When your body is tense your chi, prana, energy or life force cannot flow adequately in and through your cells and the energy structures of your body.

Tension held in the body also greatly affects your mood and can manifest either as anxiety or depression or both, depending upon your soul structure.

Now more than ever, I am seeing that gentle stretching is a critical part of our daily routines just as much as eating, brushing our teeth or sleeping. Try this for at least four consecutive days and see how you feel.

Do you have a daily stretching routine? If you start incorporating stretch into your day, share what you experience!