Elephant Stretch - Stretching Arms

Moving and stretching our bodies can be a great way to help us navigate nerves, stress, and simply take a break. By pretending that we are elephants, we stretch our arms high above our heads. Incorporating our breathing, we are able to signal a sense of relaxation to our bodies and our minds.

Transcript

Hi everyone, I'm so glad that you made it here today. My name is Heather. And today, In our imaginations, We are going to pretend that we're elephants. Well, That'd be so much fun. Okay, So let's sit down somewhere comfortable. You don't have to sit on the ground like I am, But if you'd like to, Then I invite you to. Crisscross your legs. You could even sit on the couch. You could sit outside in the grass or on your bed. Find a comfortable spot where you can sit. And to the elephants, We're going to stretch. So before we get started, Let's take a couple deep breaths in and out to help us just relax a little bit. You ready? Breathe in. And out. Breathe in. And out. Do you feel relaxed? Do you feel ready? Okay, So before we close our eyes to be our elephants. Let's first imagine an elephant. What does an elephant have? Great big feet. Little tail, Great big floppy ears, And a long trunk. So if we were elephants, What could we use as a trunk? Maybe our arms and our hands. To be elephants, We're going to swoop our arms down like a trunk and lift them high up in the air. You ready? Here comes our trunk. And we go down. We bring them high up into the air and then we need to bring our trumpet. Now we're going to use our breath as we do that. So as our trunks come down in front of us, We're going to breathe in. And as they come back down, We breathe out. Are you ready? Okay, Breathe in. Stretch, And now let it all out. Good job. So let's do this three times. But we're gonna close our eyes to do it. So if you feel safe closing your eyes, I invite you to now. Don't forget to breathe in as we stretch forward and up. Breathe out as they come down. Are you ready? Okay, Let's stretch them up. Breathe in. And now out! Our trunks are down. Okay, Let's raise them up again. Breathe in. And out. Good job, Let's do it one more time. Keep your eyes closed, Ready, In. Out Keep your eyes closed and I want you to picture something else than an elephant does with their trunk. Have you ever seen them spray water on themselves? Or on other elephants, It's how they cool themselves off. So when we swoop down, We're going to pretend that we scooped up with water. And while our trunks are up in the air, We're going to go back and forth and move them all around. Let's do this a couple of times together. You can open your eyes and take a peek. First time I do it so you can see what we're doing. You ready? Okay, Breathe in. Alright, Our trunks are up in the air and let's spray the water. You can breathe out. We're spraying water all over. Now before we bring our trunks back down, Let's breathe in again. And now lower them and breathe out. Good job. All right, So if you'd open your eyes, Let's close them, And we're gonna do that one more time. So breathe in. There are chunks in the air, We can breathe out. We're spraying the water and stretching side to side. We're going everywhere. Let's breathe in again. And breathe out as we lower up. Okay, One more time. Breathe in and reach up high. Stretch. And breathe out. Spray the water. Breathe in. And out as we bring them down. All right, Open your eyes. Oh, That was so fun. I felt like I had a refreshing elephant bath. It was such a good stretch. So this stretch, Pretending that we are these elephants. This is so good for us when we wake up in the morning. Or maybe after we've been playing and our bodies feel a little sore and we need to stretch. It's also a great way to help us get rid of those nerves or those butterflies in our belly that we get sometimes. Stretch and let yourself feel so happy that your body can move and stretch in such a way I hope you feel good. And you know what? This would be such a fun thing to do with your friends. You could all pretend to be elephants. To make elephant sounds. Stretch all around, Maybe go jump through a sprinkler and actually splash water on you. That would be so much fun as well. Okay guys, I am so excited to pretend with you again. I'll talk to you guys later. Bye.