Hello, everyone. Tutu Mora here with The Y bringing you tools to help you
feel well in your body, mind and spirit. So, today we're gonna be going through
part one of a really great morning stretch routine. So, for those of you who
feel a little bit stiff when you're waking up in the morning—I know that
many of us—we're moving around a little bit less or maybe we're walking more, not
doing the movements that we're quite used to since we're staying inside most
of the time. So, this could be a very gentle way to wake up your body and
allow yourself to move through the day a little bit more easily. So, you won't need
any props. You'll just need a mat or a soft surface to lay down on, and so, I'll
go ahead and meet you on the mat and we'll get started. Okay. So, just tilting
my screen down here so you can see how I'm moving. So, let's start by just laying
down on the mat. You can have your feet hip-distance apart,
feet flat down, knees bent.
And let's just start with a couple deep breaths here.
So, just really waking up the body, taking that breath all the way down the length with
the torso, as if it was gonna come out and widen your sit bones.
So, really filling this whole torso with your breath, nice deep inhales,
and nice full exhales. Let's take that three more times.
With each inhale, just breathing yourself into your body, letting that awareness
just gently drop inwards.
And so, now, we'll start by just taking a little pelvic curl here. So, what that
means is as your pelvis is sitting on the mat, we're just going to gently lengthen
and curl that tailbone up, as if it's going to slide up and meet the back of
your knees. You can also think of it as if you've got,
you know, back pants pockets here. Your weight is resting on the middle of those
back pants pockets, or maybe even towards the bottom. So, you're just gonna roll
that weight towards the top of those back pants
pockets, letting the bottoms of the pockets just scoop up towards the back of
your knees before resting that pelvis back down. So, let's take that a couple times,
using this as an opportunity just to check in with how that lower lumbar
spine is moving. So, maybe this movement feels a little bit creeky, a little bit
stiff. Maybe it feels just fine, but see if you can just use this as an
opportunity to check in.
And so, now, uncurling here. And, of course, you're welcome to pause this and take
these pelvic curls however slow, or however many repetitions you'd like to.
But, we're going to move into a heel slide here. So, I'm going to have you just
flex one of your feet, heels still on the floor, toes up in the air here, and we're
going to—I'll scoot up just a little bit so you can see the whole movement..
We're just gonna slide that heel out to a straight leg reaching through
the heel of that foot here, and then sliding it back. So, making sure that heel
has contact in with the mat as it slides, and really letting that glute initiate
the movement here. So, reaching away, giving yourself a little stretch along
the back of the leg, before sliding that back in.
So, we'll take that one more time.
Sliding that out, reaching through the heel, and sliding it back in.
And then, let's take that opposite arm,
fingertips up towards the ceiling, and as you slide that leg out, that opposite arm
is going to come overhead, and now imagining that there's a cross pattern
across your body, letting that back of the armpit and the opposite hip bone
reach away from each other. So, lengthening out that cross pattern in
your body. Gentle stretch here, as those two reach away from each other and then
bringing them back in. And we'll do that one more time.
Stretching and lengthening that cross pattern there, that connection across
your body before bringing that back in, resting that arm again by your side.
And just to check in, we'll take another pelvic curl here. So, you might notice
that it feels a little bit different. And now, let's take that leg—or heel slide—
on to the other side. So, flexing that other foot and we'll start by just sliding
that I heel out, reaching through that heel, feeling that stretch along the
back of the leg, before sliding that heel back. We'll take that two more times and
then we'll add in the arm. Reaching through that heel and sliding that back.
Reaching again.
Last time.
Just being aware of the difference here from side to side, so the
sides of the body will never really feel the same. So, now, let's add in that
opposite arm, sliding that away as that opposite arm comes overhead, finding
that cross pattern across the body and imagining that the back of that armpit
and the opposite hip bone and sit bone are just reaching away from each other, before
bringing that back. And we'll take that one more time.
And bringing it back.
So, now, let's just straighten out that leg that we've been working with, bringing the opposite leg
in towards us. So, reaching through that heel of the straight leg and bringing
that thigh in towards our bodies. So, just stretching here in opposite directions,
opening those hips a little bit, and now just gently switching.
Reaching that heel of the straight leg away as you bring that opposite leg in towards your body.
And we'll take that one more time to each side.
And so, now, bending both legs again, your feet flat on the mat, we're gonna
continue just to open up those hips, we're going to come back and flex that foot.
And, now, if you'd like, you can put both of your hands on your hip bones,
so imagining that both sides—well not imagining—but having both sides of that
pelvis firmly planted on the mat. So, we're going to take this leg out into a
clam shell. So, again, letting that glute initiate the action, bringing it
back in. So, as you clam shell out, keeping both sides of that pelvis
anchored on the mat. So, really allowing that leg to rotate in the hip socket, so
really opening up that space. So, if you find that you're rocking from side to
side—so if you find that that pelvis is rocking as you bring your leg out—your
leg isn't getting that rotation in the socket. So, only taking that leg out as
far as you can keep both sides of your pelvis anchored on the mat. So, your hands on
your hip bones will be that a little extra accountability in keeping that
pelvis stable. So, we'll take it two more times to this side.
Really just letting yourself open up to that range of motion, so you might find that you're able to
move a little bit further each time.
Resting that foot down and we'll take that over to the other side gently
flexing that foot and taking that out.
And, just like we've noticed before, the sides of the body are not going to feel the
same. So, you might notice that you have more range of motion on one
side and the other and that is normal. Again, letting that pelvis remain
stable as you open and close that leg and letting that back of the butt—that
glute—really help you initiate that motion as you open up the leg and as you
drag it in.
So, let's take that one more time.
Setting that foot back down. And, now, let's check in with our pelvic curl,
just noticing how that spine is moving. So, you might notice now you have a little
bit more articulation. Maybe it feels a little bit more fluid, which is good.
That's what we want.
So, that is part one of our morning stretch routine here.
So, I would invite you now to use this as you're able in the morning and tune in
for part two of this nice and gentle morning stretch routine that we'll have
tomorrow. So, take care and I'll see you back here next time on The Y's YouTube channel
with more tools to help you feel well in your body, mind and spirit.
Take care.